First Catch & Others
by Baroquess
Summary: Series of challenges for the LJ Community 30kisses, starring HatoriAyame shounenai, boyXboy. Beta'd by Tokkitsu.
1. First Catch

**Title:** First Catch  
**Author/Artist:** stressbeertje  
**Pairing:** Sohma Hatori and Sohma Ayame  
**Fandom:** Fruits Basket  
**Theme: ****#1:** "Look over there" /こっち向いて

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fruits Basket, nor do I own any of its characters.

Note: This fanfiction was created for the LJ community 30kisses. This was challenge #1: 'Look over there'.

**First Catch**

"What are you doing in there, Aya? I want to play with you!"

"Just a minute, 'Gure-san! I'm almost done!"

A heavy sigh was audible through the solid door that sealed the hallway from Ayame's bedroom. It also currently sealed Shigure's chance to be with Ayame, as he was standing in the hallway and the door had been locked from the inside of the bedroom.

"But when? I want to play with you, now! Haa-kun is so boring to play with; he just likes those stuffy books…" was the plaintive reply.

"Cheer up, my dearest friend! I will be with you shortly!" Ayame's cheerful voice was loud even at his tender age.

On the other end of the hallway, Yuki woke up with a startled scream. Ayame sighed and gave up on his task when his baby brother continued to yell. The young Snake put down his needle and thread, which had been close to running out anyhow. He glanced at the cuts on his fingers and reasoned that he needed some more bandages, lest his best friends would worry what he was doing alone in his room. It wasn't like Ayame to lock himself up from the outside world and possible contact with other people.

Ayame was flattered that his friends had been worrying about his uncharacteristic behaviour.

Rather suddenly, there was a calm knocking on the door, the sound echoing through the bedroom. He knew that knock anywhere- only one person he knew would knock politely, and that was his other best friend, 'Tori-san. The other people he knew – including his parents – all barged in without prior warning.

Ayame glanced around. The room was filled with haphazardly thrown-around pieces of fabric and all kinds of sharp pointy equipment that might not be a good thing to leave half-hidden under the cloth, in case Shigure decided to challenge him to a tickle match again. Basically, it looked like a hurricane had come through the usually tidy doll-esque room Ayame owned.

"Just a minute, 'Tori-san! I'll be right out!" he hollered towards the direction of the knocking, which ceased as suddenly as it had started, after Ayame had given a response. Rather quickly, the silver-haired boy gathered the cloths and equipment in his arms and threw it under his bed, feeling some of the needles he had lost while creating his _Secret Project #001 _sticking in his fingers and arms.

_Oh well, no time to get those needles out now! I must not keep 'Tori-san waiting! _Ayame thought as he rushed to unlock his bedroom door.

Shigure and Hatori both entered the room in their own ways. Shigure leapt at him enthusiastically, causing Ayame to fall on the floor. The silver-haired boy giggled, hugging his friend tightly.

"I missed you so much, Gure-san! I am sorry that I was not able to unlock the door; however, I had very important, _secret_ things to do that would not allow me to see you or 'Tori-san!" The boy looked up from over Gure's shoulder, seeing Hatori walk in calmly, seemingly undisturbed by the loud noises the boys were making, and stood next to them, crossing his arms as he looked at Ayame. He sighed deeply.

"I will not ask," the dark-haired boy stated simply as he raised an eyebrow.

The other two boys turned at Hatori's calm words and stood up simultaneously. They glanced at each other, and nodded, before tackling the other boy down to the floor as well.

"'Tori-hug!" The two more exuberant boys screamed in Hatori's ear whilst still giggling. Hatori, being used from this sort of behaviour from the other two boys, knew that this would be over sooner if he didn't struggle. His point was proven as the other two boys scrambled off of him soon, having lost interest already.

"Come on, 'Haa-san! You should cheer up! Aya-kun was just telling me yesterday that he would like to see you smile!" Shigure grinned as he set down next to his solemn friend on the floor. "I just wish you were ticklish, that would help a lot!"

Ayame chuckled at Shigure's words. "Yes, 'Tori-san! Won't you turn ticklish, for us? You know, we're your best friends, so we are definitely worth it!"

Hatori seemed uninterested in accepting Ayame's strange request.

"I will not turn ticklish. I don't even think it is clinically possible to turn ticklish if you are not to begin with."

Ayame pouted at Hatori's discouraging words, but didn't appear to be hurt for too long, or bothered too much about not knowing the word 'clinical'. "You'll see, Tori-kun! I will make you smile one day, and you won't be able to stop me!"

Shigure nodded, fully understanding his friend's desires. "Yes, he will, because he's the magical Prince Aya! He is the one made of lilies and dreams, and he will one day free your heart of the prison you created yourself! You are like… the captured princess, waiting for her prince!"

Ayame blushed slightly as he heard Shigure's words. "Gure-san, you are so good with words! You are, of course, totally correct! Tori-san is the princess, and I will rescue him from his boredom with my wonderful sparkling personality! I will **get** him one day!"

Meanwhile, Hatori sighed at his friends' antics, and realised that it was probably safest for his sanity that he left. With a brief wave of his hand, the young boy left again, calmly walking towards the safety of his own home, and returning to his books and homework. At least _they_ made sense.

"Ah, Gure-san, you scared him off!" Ayame complained, briefly ignoring that he had been the one that had spoken to Hatori before the boy had escaped.

"I apologise, my dearest Aya, but I just had to know what you had planned! I am assuming this is a chance to lure your beautiful princess?"

"Ahaha, you see right through me, Gure-san! I am so lucky to have you as my friend!" Ayame laughed loudly, once again scaring his baby brother down the hall into a crying fit. A mumbling of his parents was heard, cursing their older son. Ayame paid no heed to it, and simply smirked at Shigure, as though he had the greatest plan ever. Probably, in his mind, he did.

He leaned over to stare conspiringly in Shigure's face, his yellow eyes sparkling with mischief. Ayame kept leaning over, closer, and _closer_…

Until he bumped foreheads with Shigure painfully, ruining the scheming, secretive mood completely. The two friends laughed, rubbing their foreheads painfully. "Anyhow… I won't tell you!" Ayame exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear, and pushed his disappointed friend outside of the room.

Several days passed, and Ayame grew more and more enthusiastic about his project, whereas Shigure grew more curious - but also gloomy- as time passed. _It had better be a good scheme to keep him away from me. His efforts are lost on Haa-kun anyhow…_

However, Shigure knew not how to stop it from happening, and did not want his best friend to lose the hope of one day being able to see the Dragon smile. In any case: Ayame trying to get Hatori's attention was bound to be entertaining. The Dog smiled, pleasurable anticipation running through his spine.

_The day has arrived! _Ayame thought to himself excitedly a few days later, as he literally leapt out of his bed. His body was brimming with energy at an even higher level than usual, his nerves making him slightly nauseous. Ayame didn't really understand why he was feeling like this, but he supposed it was just the amount of work that had gone into it. Ayame was simply so used to slacking off, that he never really applied himself unless the stakes were high to him. _'Tori means the world to me! _Ayame reasoned with himself as he contemplated whether the work put into this Project had been worth it, never mind the fact that he had to get up as early as he had to be able to catch the Dragon before having to leave for school. He put the last bow on his _Secret Project #001_ and stepped outside, the sky still yellow as the sun had not quite risen yet.

"Hello, my dearest 'Tori-san! Your best friend – and _Prince_ – Ayame is here to see you! I failed to bring Gure-san, so we could be the Prince and Princess!" He ran up to his solemn friend, who was currently reading in a stiff position at his desk.

_I don't even **own** a desk._ Ayame thought, shaking his head at the fun his friend must be missing out on.

"What are you doing here?" was the unenthusiastic reply the Snake received. Hatori never even bothered to glance up from his homework.

Ayame sighed heavily. "Tori! You're my friend, the least you can do is be a little enthusiastic to see me, or at least pretend to be." He briefly glanced down at the book Hatori was reading, successfully avoiding the other boy's glance. _Mathematics?_ Ew. Ayame quickly looked back at Hatori's face, removing any disappointment he might have shown with his customary wide grin.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter now! Here, I brought you something!"  
The Snake quickly revealed a flashily-wrapped package from behind his back, and pushed it in Hatori's chest, forcing the other boy to accept it.

"Oh… Thank you. But why did you get me a gift? It's not my birthday." Hatori now felt vaguely guilty for not being more caring about the arrival of his friend. After all, it was true what his friends had said a few days prior. They _were_ his only friends.

For the first time since the bouncing Snake had entered the room, Hatori truly looked at him. Ayame seemed exhausted, dark bags under his eyes and his usual pale complexion now seemed almost healthy in contrast to how white he looked this morning. He now truly looked like his namesake, the lily, white and fragile. His hands, and even arms, were covered in bandages. For a boy who usually cared so much about how he appeared in front of other people, this was certainly odd. It worried Hatori more than he would have liked and anticipated, and he certainly did not want to dwell on the thought.

"What happened to your hands, Aya?" He asked patiently, taking the other boy's hands in his own and pulled a bandage off in one short tug.

Ayame could barely react in time to suppress a –probably very unflattering- shriek.

"What are you doing? How cruel, 'Tori-san!" He exclaimed frantically, and then put the brutally abused finger in his mouth to numb the pain.

Hatori shook his head. His friend just had to be a drama queen 24/7, didn't he? Carefully this time, he grabbed the finger that was being sucked in his fist and slowly pulled it from Ayame's lips. He examined it briefly before getting up and calmly leaving the room.

Ayame blinked, very confused at his friend's actions. And why hadn't Hatori opened up his gift yet? He had worked so hard on it; it hardly seemed fair that his friend would not appreciate it.

By the time Hatori returned with some salve he had managed to get from his parents without asking them what he needed it for, Ayame had already unwrapped his own gift.

Hatori looked from the gaudy pink wrapping thrown all around his carefully tidy room, and countless of ribbons were scattered over his desk and bed. Then he noticed what Ayame had lying on his lap, probably the gift Ayame had given him. It appeared to be a sort of rag, with differently coloured prints and fabrics, the patterns seemingly randomly placed between the squares with no patterns. Then Ayame lifted its head, and… Oh dear _God_.

It appeared to be a stuffed animal in the shape of a snake.

_Only Ayame…_ The thought came to Hatori's mind automatically, as he sighed and took a few hesitant steps in Ayame's direction. The dark-haired boy had no idea what to expect this time, but as he saw the disappointed face of the Snake as he looked at the stuffed animal, he knew he could not in good manners leave. He sat down next to the Snake, hesitantly putting a hand on the other boy's shoulder to draw the attention of the Snake, who kept brushing over the snake's mouth with his sore finger.

"Hey 'Tori-san… look over there." Ayame spoke, uncharacteristically softly, as he turned to face Hatori. He pointed a bandage-covered finger out the window, following some birds flying towards the red-painted horizon.

Hatori followed the line of Ayame's finger, looking out the window as well. What was Ayame trying to show him? Hatori prayed that this would not be one of those '_look at the real world instead of your stuffy books for a change, 'Tori-san'_ conversations Ayame was so used to giving him.

Instead of a lecture, Ayame had picked up the stuffed animal, and lightly bumped its head to Hatori's cheek.

"Got you."

**A/N:** Did I make Shigure too much of a sadist? ; I'm sorry; I couldn't totally interpret how they would be as children… XD; I'm much more comfortable with them as adults (in body, anyhow XDD; I don't think any of them (not even Hatori, as the emotional cripple ©) will ever grow up in spirit XD) Oh, and the whole sucking-finger-then-brushing-it-on-stuffy-then-bumping-it-on-Hatori was supposed to be the kiss. Just so you are not wondering what happened to the kiss. XD

For those of you who don't know it, Ayame means 'lily' in Japanese.


	2. Dance of Promise

Pairing: Sohma Hatori & Sohma Ayame

Fandom: Fruits Basket

Theme: #28: Wada Calcium CD3 / ワダカルシウムCD3

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket and the characters I use in my fiction. I just use them…

Rating: PG

**Dance of promise**

Shigure had known it would turn out badly. However, he had not anticipated that it would go as poorly as it had. He took a quick glance at Ayame's ridiculous outfit, which made him stand out in the crowd even more than his hair and unusually pale complexion already did. The Dog was _sure_ Ayame was cold in that pink tutu.

In their childhood, Ayame had always wanted to perform ballet. Hatori had told him, from when he first started watching people perform Swan Lake in tutus, that it was not normal for boys to watch shows like that. When they grew older, Hatori had told Ayame that it was not normal to watch those shows with more attention to the tutus than to the girls. And as Hatori's perception on his silver-haired friend grew, he kept his mouth wisely shut about Ayame ogling the guys in tights more than the girls in their tutus. It was rather too much than he had wanted to know.

Shigure figured that in a strange way, the family doctor felt guilty about robbing Ayame of a possible interest and hobby. This was the only reason Shigure could think up on why Hatori would be so crazy as to invite cold-blooded Ayame to an ice-skating ring.

The morning that led to this weird change of events, Ayame and Shigure had just been talking about their naughty dreams, fantasies, and whatever clothes Ayame was making to encourage those fantasies in other people, when Hatori had entered his house without knocking. Shigure remembered it vividly, because this was a rare occurrence. Hatori rarely found the time to seek out his oldest friends, especially if there were no ulterior motive attached to said visit.

Ayame and Shigure had blinked, but Hatori had merely nodded to them in greeting and had given them no chance to recover from their shock. Instead, he had immediately dropped another proverbial bombshell in their midst. "Ayame. Take whatever you want and accompany me to the ice skating range."

It was a rare thing to find Ayame at a loss for words, but this time he had stood there, gaping like a fish. Shigure had not faired much better. What was Hatori playing at? Did he not know that Ayame was easily hurt if someone let him down? Sure, he might not show it, but surely, after having been friends for so long, Hatori would know how Ayame's mind worked.

Nevertheless, Shigure had forgotten his worries about the fragile Snake and had been thoroughly amused at Ayame's absurd outfit, not to mention Hatori's reaction at seeing Ayame reappear in the room in a glittery pink tutu. The writer had known Ayame had been working on a tutu ever since his obsession for the perfect _manly romance _started, and when his sewing styles also began covering Western-style clothing. However, he had not imagined ever seeing Ayame wear it, nor the fact that Ayame would look strangely alluring in it, the childish pink complementing his natural paleness.

Apparently, Hatori had been experiencing the same ideas, as he had turned strangely quiet. Ayame had remained ignorant of the doctor's shell-shocked state, and had simply dragged him outside, eager to start another attempt at _manly romance_ with his favourite doctor. Shigure had only been able to sigh, but had decided to follow the pair to make sure there would be a sensible person around. In most cases, Hatori was the designated responsible person, but this time he would have to take on the burden of the adult himself. Shigure had shuddered at the thought of so much responsibility.

And that's why they were here now, at the ice-skating ring named "_Serendipity_". Shigure sighed at its corny name, but could not keep his eyes off of Ayame for more than a moment. He knew this would not work. It was simple math. Cold-blooded snakes plus ice minus a decent amount of clothing equalled trouble. Serious trouble.

Ayame seemed not to care about the dangers of the cold, too wrapped up in Hatori's company. As usual, the silver-haired man ignored everyone else and was completely focused on the doctor. Ayame probably did not even realise that he was being stared at… or was simply too used to being gawked at. Both were possible, Shigure mused. What surprised Shigure most was not Ayame's loud outfit, but Hatori's behaviour. It appeared like the man would not stop surprising him today. He seemed to be _enjoying_ Ayame's company. Openly. He even smiled at times, when Ayame would make a clumsy twirl on the ice, just barely avoiding falling flat on his face. And was it just Shigure's imagination, or was there more catch-touching than was necessary?

Shigure found an opening to intervene when Ayame shakily skated away from Hatori for a moment. For all of Ayame's begging, Hatori had refused to skate together with Ayame and had chosen to remain watching instead. Shigure quickly ran up to Hatori and tugged the man on his jacket, glaring at the usually sensible man and shook him. "What the heck do you think you're doing? Don't you realise that Ayame could very likely catch a cold, if not transform?"

Hatori sighed, his breath turning visible in the cold air into small puffs that made Shigure fleetingly think of his Zodiac counterpart. "I know, Shigure, but Aya has been increasingly begging me to do this exact thing. I figured that if he would beg me for it for an entire winter that I would lose my mind…" The happy expression shining in his eyes left as suddenly has it had appeared, and he turned serious once more. "I don't intend to hurt him, Shigure."

Shigure blinked for a moment and then nodded, turning equally serious. He understood the deeper meaning of those words very clearly. "Then don't. You know what he's like."

Hatori nodded curtly, then turned back to Ayame. However, the man was nowhere to be found, but instead, the previously tittering crowd had now formed into an equally tittering circle. Hatori and Shigure shared a quick worried glance before pushing through the crowd to find Ayame sitting on the ground, his legs completely touching the ice and the petite tutu doing nothing to keep him warm.

"Hah… I didn't think I'd go… this cold… so fast…" Ayame stammered, feeling very slow and fatigued. Hatori wasted no time and quickly wrapped his jacket over Ayame's shoulders, lifting him over his shoulders. He hoped that he could keep the man warm enough to not turn into his Zodiac form until they were away from the crowd. The man felt chilled against his arms and chest, which worried Hatori more than he wanted to admit to himself. Ayame failed to lift his arms enough to wrap them around Hatori's shoulders. Shigure helped him, noticing the shivers in his friend increasing.

"You have to get him out of here, Haa-san!" He said, pushing Hatori through the crowds.

Shigure did his best to keep the crowd calm, putting his story skills to the test. He would follow the two later on.

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Two hours later Ayame was not feeling much better. Hatori and Shigure had covered him in warm blankets and practically buried him in heating pads on Shigure's bed. This had at least stopped the man from turning into a snake. The Dragon had left a while ago, claiming he needed to pick something up at his house, which left the Dog and Snake alone.

"Are you feeling better now?" Shigure asked, dabbing Ayame's clammy forehead with a wet cloth. He could feel Ayame's forehead burning up even through the thickness of the fabric. Luckily, the man had not transformed, but unfortunately he had developed an immense fever and was shivering all over. His cheeks, usually pale, were now red and blotchy. Shigure tucked Ayame in more tightly, not used to seeing his friend so _vulnerable_.

"Why did you have to convince Haa-san to go ice-skating with you anyhow? You know it's a pretty dumb thing to do… even for you." Shigure smiled mischievously. Ayame grinned at his friend and grabbed his face, putting their foreheads together as the cloth on Ayame's forehead fell, forgotten. The Dog and Snake both chuckled, used to finding solace in each other. They knew each other's secrets, and Shigure knew exactly why Ayame had practically forced Hatori to take him ice-skating.

Rather suddenly their moment was disturbed when Hatori entered the room. Unannounced yet again, Shigure thought to himself. He slowly moved his forehead from Ayame's and handed Ayame the wet cloth himself. Hatori frowned. "Shigure, don't you have a deadline to try and break?" He asked dryly, moving in on the Snake himself. He hoped Shigure would catch the transparent hint.

Apparently, he did. The Dog rolled his eyes at Ayame, then gave a thumbs up in an encouraging manner. He grinned widely and rushed out of the room, leaving his two friends to fend for themselves.

Hatori slowly sat down next to the bed, careful not to touch Ayame. Ayame raised his eyebrow at this.  
"What's the matter, Tori-kun? Are you afraid I might break?" He smiled sweetly, scooting closer to the other man. "Don't you know that snakes need warmth when they're sick? And body warmth is the best warmth there is," he said slyly.

Hatori made a fist with his hand and moved it over his mouth before scraping his throat. "I am very sorry for what happened today, Aya. I hope you realise that I had no intention of that happening… but you should not have worn _that_, you know better than that." He very quickly glanced at Ayame's chest and hoped it had not been noticed by the Snake that he had done so. "So, I take it you took off your… garment?"

"No, Gure-san did it for me!" Ayame replied, sounding entirely too pleased for the reply to be innocent. However, Hatori had learned well through his childhood that it was best to ignore some –or many- of the comments Ayame made, especially if you knew you would probably not like the reply to said comments. Instead, he produced a bottle from his fist, showing it to Ayame.

"Please, take this medicine. It is Wada Calcium CD3, it should help you get your strength back up quickly." He took two pills from the bottle and put them between Ayame's parted lips, then handed the man a glass of water.

Ayame winced at the taste, but swallowed anyhow, greedily accepting the glass from Hatori and trapping the man's fingers while he guided the glass to his lips. After having downed the glass and the pills, Ayame felt strangely better already. He instinctively crawled into a ball to maintain his body heat as well as he could, and cuddled up to the nearest source of warmth, closing his eyes. "Thank you, Tori-san." He mumbled. "I'm sorry for making this day horrible for you..."

Hatori shook his head, although he saw that Ayame had fallen asleep already. He bended forwards slowly, as to not startle the man currently lying on his chest, and softly put his lips on Ayame's forehead. "Today was not horrible at all. In fact…it was the most fun I've had in a long time," he spoke softly in the now quiet room.

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A/N: Mwahaha. Oh, POOR Ayame. I just have the hots for male ballet dancers… and tutus. 


	3. Babysitter

Title: Babysitter  
Author/Artist: stressbeertje  
Pairing: Hatori Sohma/Ayame Sohma  
Fandom: Fruits Basket  
Theme: Challenge 22: Cradle /揺り籠

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or its characters.

**Babysitter**

Days later, Ayame was still not feeling better.

Hatori was plagued with the unfamiliar feeling of guilt, which made his day consist out of quite a bit of firsts.

For example, this was the first time he had ever spent a complete night at Ayame's bedside.

It was also the first time he had sat by Ayame and was allowed to watch his face relax. Hatori was amazed at how easy it seemed for the corners of Ayame's lips to relax in a more natural smile.

The most interesting first time for Hatori was the fact that he felt a strange feeling in his lower abdomen when he saw Ayame shivering and panting under his fever. Hatori had to force himself to not feel the man's forehead for it would wake him up and disturb the healing process of his body.

However, it was the second time Hatori was torn between wanting to protect someone, and then the other feeling he did not want to admit to himself.

_Kana._

It had been this protective feeling that had forced Hatori to carry the slender man back to his own apartment in the middle of the night. Shigure had been fussing about Ayame too much in Hatori's point of view.

Instead, he grabbed the stuffed snake Ayame had once given him when they had been children, and gave it back to Ayame. His cheeks had been flushed and his eyes had lost their twinkle at that moment, so Hatori hoped he had intervened the Snake's abysmal sleeping patterns in time. He pushed the stuffed animal in Ayame's arms and pressed on the man's shoulder, forcing him to lie down on the sofa.

"Here, go sleep with this. It will do you good. I will make you some soup if you want."

Ayame's breath hitched, clutching his suspiciously un-ragged snake close. His own stuffed seahorse he had made himself without Hatori's knowledge had been prone to falling apart a few times now, but Ayame kept fixing it.

Only after Hatori had repeated his offer did Ayame shake his head. "No, that's okay, 'Tori-san! I just want to go back to Gure-san! Why did you take me away from my lovely Gure-san?" Ayame forced himself to sound cheerful, even though he now felt more awful than he had done before coming here.

"Ayame." The doctor sighed. Why did the Snake have to be so stubborn all the time?

"You are unwell. You need your rest and energy, and you know perfectly well that you only spend energy around Shigure." Hatori flicked off the switch in the room without waiting for Ayame's consent, allowing darkness and shadows to reign over the room.

"I've been unwell for a long time, Tori-san." Ayame whispered softly. The darkness of the room made the meaning of the sentence even louder than it already was. Hatori had a sudden urge to flick the light switch back on, desperate to see Ayame's face showing a smile, his eyes twinkling in mirth. Instead, he walked to the sofa he had placed Ayame on and sat down next to the Snake. In the last few days it had become their new ritual.

"That's not my fault." Hatori said after a long pause, equally quiet. In spite of his somewhat standoffish words, he wrapped his arms around the small waist of the man, the skin of which practically lit up under the moonlight that entered through the window.

"I'm not blaming you, Hatori." was the muffled reply. _It's my own fault _was left unsaid, though both men understood it as loudly as they heard their whispers. Ayame had buried his face into the dusty stuffed animal in an attempt to hide the trembling in his voice.

Hatori tightened his grasp around Ayame's waist, not knowing what else he could do or say to make it better. This was a problem he could not cure, not even with everything he knew about the human anatomy. Inwardly, he cursed. He was supposed to look out for Ayame, to protect him. That was his role to Ayame. He was Ayame's babysitter. Nothing more. It was not proper, it was forbidden, it could not be and was never supposed to be. Then why couldn't he stop thinking about it?

Long after the silence that followed, Hatori's grasp slipped faintly and his breathing deepened, breathing in Ayame's neck. In his sleep, the Dragon buried his face in the vanilla aroma of the silver locks in front of him.

Ayame survived the night, but barely. Hatori's arms held the pale man close, who in turn clutched his dusty shrine of Dragon-worship, kissing the stuffed snake softly.

It was then that Ayame decided that being cradled by your babysitter was the worst feeling in the world.


	4. Loud

**Title:** Loud  
**Pairing:** Hatori Sohma/Ayame Sohma  
**Fandom:** Fruits Basket  
**Theme:** #17. kHz (kilohertz)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket or its characters.

**Rating:** R for implied sexual intercourse and awkward use of the word kilohertz. xx;

Loud

Everything about Ayame was loud. His clothes were loud, his voice was loud, his beauty was loud. Even his body language was so overbearingly loud that it was hard to ignore. Hatori knew this and had gotten used to it over the years. He could stand most of Ayame's noise; however, he did have issues with the sounds Ayame made unconsciously.

"Ayame. Stop that."

The man chose to ignore him and continued humming. The sound echoed through the room, making it impossible to concentrate on anything other than Ayame.

Okay, maybe the Hebi was not doing it _that_ unconsciously.

"Aya." The doctor tried again, a little louder this time, intently staring at the Hebi currently doodling on _his_ important papers. He had long given up that particular fight, but the current one was a problem that had bothered him ever since they were children.

Though, since their puberty kicked in and Ayame got the deep baritone he wore with suitable pride ("It is a sign of _manly romance_, 'Tori-san!"), Hatori had found it increasingly difficult to tune out the man's voice, despite even his trained patience and senses.

The real problem was that Ayame knew this well, and had exploited it immensely even before they had gotten together. The exploitation had merely increased afterwards.

"What is it, my dearest Tori-san? Don't you like my singing capabilities? Oh, what am I saying? Of course you do! My voice can make you draw away from your horribly boring work and make you look at me!"

_Of course_ Ayame would see it that way. Hatori sighed deeply, sensing another one of Ayame's infamous discussions coming on, being dragged into it whether he wanted to or not.

"I happen to want to do this horribly boring work, Aya. You know just as well as I do that you are merely distracting me because you want some inspiration for clothes." He noticed that Ayame wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, so he quickly continued. "How did you make all of your clothes before, when… this was not going on?"

Ayame chuckled, putting a hand coquettishly on his cheek to hide the faint blush spreading over his cheeks. "Honestly Tori-san, you'd think you assumed I was still a virgin when you suddenly pulled off my clothes in the middle of the family meeting and…" He trailed off, wiggling on the fluffy bed at the uncomfortable turn in the discussion. Hatori must've realised he had been with many people before, but he never liked to admit to it openly out of fear of being rejected by Hatori. The Hebi didn't think he could bear to lose the Ryuu now, after having waited for so long for _their_ manly romance.

Hatori raised an eyebrow, distinctly ignoring the other unpleasant facts in favour of the blatant lie. "You know that is not how it happened. You should not lie or embellish so much. In fact, I'd rather if you didn't take up anymore bad habits from Shigure at all."

Ayame stuck out his tongue and moved in on Hatori, shifting the plethora of stuffy, boring books off of the wooden desk in one sweeping motion. He proceeded by sitting on the desk, one of his legs slowly stroking the other.  
"You know… you can still make me stop lying… by making it the truth." He lowered his voice even more, hoping to seduce Hatori from his work. Ah, if only sounding sultry was what it took to get a little recognition… Ayame didn't think it was fair that someone as handsome as he had to work so hard to get a little manly romance.

Hatori's lip threatened to turn upwards. It was not often that Ayame gave him permission to rip his precious clothes to shreds. "I guess that means that you have to stay even longer to fix your clothes afterwards?" He said pointedly, already moving his agile fingers over the slender man's chest. He felt his animal counterpart stirring inside his mind, breaking through his carefully placed mental barriers as he felt a strong urge to protect the Hebi.

_His_ Hebi.

Soon enough, any possessive thoughts were cast aside as said Hebi moaned, desperate for some well deserved attention. Hatori decided that this was the most distracting sound the Hebi could make, and then he thought no more.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Afterwards they lay against each other, still panting from the strenuous exercise. Hatori would always fuss over Ayame, who had a poor health to begin with. Around winter this worry increased, and Ayame had not yet been able to stop the Ryuu from worrying. Instead, he had figured out how to not give the doctor the chance of worrying by nibbling on his earlobe. It certainly proved effective most of the times, and this time was no exception. Hatori gasped, easily forgetting his newly re-found rational thoughts as shivers ran over his spine.

Suddenly, the Hebi made a sound he had not yet heard before. A _loud_ sound. Being close to his ear, the sound nearly broke the kilohertz meter of the Ryuu's sensitive hearing.

"What are you _doing_?" He whispered incredulously, hoarse from all the sounds that he had made _before_. Ayame chuckled, but continued to purr. "I am very pleased and warm, so I am making a contended sound." He said it as if it was very logical for him to be purring, his voice equally hoarse as the man lying next to him.

"You _do_ realise that you are not the Neko of the Zodiac, I hope." Hatori sighed, already giving up this fight and wanting for Ayame to continue his previous ministrations. He thought that the sound was rather cute, although he would never admit it out loud.

Ayame continued purring, completely ignoring the logic of Hatori's comment. He rolled from his position aside from the Ryuu to atop of him, the desire for his body to touch every part of Hatori's body possible was almost overbearing. The reality of their situation always hit him in the afterglow when his senses came back from overload to allow sensible thoughts back into his mind. At the realisation of their state of affairs, he purred even harder.

Hatori simply rolled his eyes, kissing his lover softly. It had proved to be a very effective way of stopping all sounds coming from his lover, but the purring continued deep in his lover's throat, and actually increased in volume as the two men shared air. Hatori tried vaguely to get his lover to stop by deepening the kiss and moving his tongue closer to the vibrations, but didn't really put effort in the stopping as much as in the continuing of the strange noise. Knowing when his lover was pleased was a great advantage.

No longer did Hatori mind the fact that his lover was so loud.

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Please note that I am no longer writing in chronological order. ;; Some sentences may be awkward but I couldn't change it anymore. ..


	5. Rating of Sins

**Rating:** R, I suppose.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket or its characters.

**Warning:** Insinuated sex and bad humour. xD;

**A/N:** This was made for the 30kisses community with the theme #10. My perverted mind changed it to this. xD; Next chapter will be the continuation of the sick-Ayame thing in chapter 3. Makes sense? No? Sorry 'bout that. xD;; It's going to be angsty, and I wanted to have some happy fics first. XP Thanks for all the reviews people, I really appreciate them!

Rating of Sins

Ayame sighed heavily as the discussion started again.

"No, Hatori, I will not compare you to any of my previous lovers! You are perfect in your own right!" Ayame couldn't help but sigh at the unusual feelings of insecurity and adequacy of his Ryuu. Ever since Hatori had caught sight of Ayame's diary lying open on his sketch desk and witnessed the number of lovers Ayame had invited in his bed prior to _them_, he had been treating the man with the utmost of attention.

At first Ayame had been thrilled, finding an attentive, available lover a much better alternative to a grumpy, distant one. In the past few days, though, it had started bugging him, especially once he had found out the reason.

He didn't like that his own loose behaviour was the origin of Hatori's sudden change of moods, but hadn't known how to deal with the mood in time. Now it was too late, as the Ryuu had started asking questions. Awkward questions. Stupid, awkward questions, that Ayame really did not want to get into.

Sure, Hatori was a little inexperienced when compared to some of his previous lovers – not to mention himself -, but that just added to his charm and cuteness. Besides, everything felt 10 times better with Hatori just because of the way he felt about him- he had never loved anyone like that before. But he couldn't very well explain that to Hatori, who was quite sensitive about his mating habits. Ayame smiled when he thought about how Hatori kept calling sex 'making love', despite the girly associations that went with the phrase. And they said _he_ was the girly one… And after all; they were together now- why did it matter what had happened prior?

"Aya. Please tell me." The doctor sighed, letting himself fall down on Ayame's red couch with an unusual lack of grace.

"Please, 'Tori-san… how can I compare you to my ex-lovers? You mean so much to me, you know that." The Hebi settled himself next to the doctor on the couch, crawling closer to him as a plea for apology. He started kissing Hatori's neck, occasionally leaving a small bite, hoping to stop the endless stream of questions and insinuations.

"Then why won't you tell me that I was better than most, if not all of your lovers? The way they treated you, made love to you… at least give me something, Aya. A number, perhaps?"

With a sigh and a last nibble on Hatori's deliciously tasting neck, Ayame gave up and left for his shop without offering Hatori another explanation. He was done repenting for the past. Now it was time for Hatori to forgive him.

The questions continued in such a manner. This went on for quite a few days, until the Hebi grew tired of these questions and surprised his Ryuu by kissing him silly when he was supposed to be finishing his improved design for a maid outfit. The silver-haired man allowed the other man to take over, liking it when his lover marked him as _his_.

When said lover woke up the next morning, he found a little note folded on his forehead. He grumbled, angry that Ayame had left without even waking him and giving him his daily good morning kiss (which_ Ayame_ insisted upon, damn it, not he), and fumbled with the paper groggily before opening it.

_10._

Hatori's lips twitched and couldn't help the fierce surge of pride running through his body.


	6. Twist of the Wild Card

Pairing: Hatori Sohma / Ayame Sohma  
Theme: #18: "say ahh..." /「アーン？」  
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket or its characters.

Warnings: Angst, to be continued (I know, annoying xP). This is a continuation of 'Babysitter'.

Twist of the Wild Card

"Ayame, I hope you are not still inside this house when I enter." Hatori warned, albeit only to himself; he figured it was wishful thinking, not to mention that he was still standing outside while Ayame was probably waiting inside for him. He had just had a long day tending to Akito's every whim, and he was in no mood to have to mollycoddle Ayame in a similar fashion like the Hebi so often required from him, and from everyone else for that matter.

It appeared that the Snake had no intention of leaving his house anymore, even not after having made a full recovery as Hatori had assured him of four times, before he realised that Ayame was in his mansion to stay. He had settled in Hatori's bed, taken over Hatori's blankets, most of the pillows (Hatori did not care much for the fluffy things anyhow, but it was the _principle _of the matter) and Hatori's closet space, the doctor recounted from the top of his head. Ayame had even taken it on himself to coordinate his books on colour, instead of on the immaculate alphabetical order Hatori liked to keep them in.

Everyone else around the ever-patient Ryuu would be walking on eggshells now, but Ayame just kept pounding on the doctor's barrier of patience. Not that such behaviour was unusual to Ayame, but so much Ayame at once was a bit much for the poor doctor, even when he was supposed to be the only one that could control Ayame.

Every night he came home Ayame had prepared another surprise for him. First there had been salt water in his bathtub. The bathtub Ayame had ordered, and somehow managed to install in that very same day. But, Hatori decided, he had enjoyed the bath after Ayame had convinced the doctor that salt water was also very good for his human skin, and not (only) meant to make fun of his seahorse counterpart. Then, there had been a dinner especially cooked by Ayame. Ayame could cook very well; Hatori had to grant him that. However, the kitchen he left behind had been a complete mess.

But then, Ayame had cleaned it up with him.

_Fine_, Hatori decided after pondering the not-so-nasty surprises the Hebi had had in store for him, _perhaps it is not such a bad thing that Ayame is staying here for a little while longer_. Still, Hatori was apprehensive constantly. Ayame was such a wild card- you never knew when it would turn bad when the Hebi was involved.

As soon as the front door was pulled open before he could lift his hand to open said door himself, he knew that things had turned sour. Without wasting a second taking the other man's appearance in, he pushed him inside and closed the door as quickly as it had been opened.

"Ayame. What are you wearing?" He spoke threateningly through clutched teeth, worried what the neighbours might have seen.

"Why, it's a maid costume, 'Tori-san! Can't you see? Is it really that bad? Or have you never experienced the manly maid fantasy so many other clients of me have?" He tilted his head innocently, the maid bonnet on his head flopping a little to the side with the sudden movement.

"No." He spoke icily. He really just wanted his privacy back; surprises were one thing, nasty embarrassing surprises were a different thing entirely. Although he found himself strongly having to ignore the maid costume on Ayame's body, because it was still a nasty turn of events. Ayame's plan could not be ethical, not this time.

"Oh, well, that doesn't matter! You can have a fantasy after today!" Ayame went on, completely ignorant of Hatori's angered state. "But first, wait till you see the surprise I have in store for you!" Ayame clasped his hands together in excitement and seemed unperturbed by Hatori's lack of enthusiasm. This was possibly because it was usual for Hatori to lack enthusiasm in the face of great plans. Ayame took the doctor's hand, this time not being as shy as he usually was about touching Hatori's pale skin as he himself was wearing white silk gloves, and dragged him to an undeniably romantically dressed-up dining table.

For a few moments, Hatori did not quite know what to say or think and could only open and close his mouth in bewilderment and anxiety. Sure enough, there had been something going on between them that neither of them had dared to quite put under words yet, but this surely was too big a step for them. Or was it? Maybe it was only too soon for Hatori, as Ayame was not usually one to take things slowly. The red roses in the vase; the candlelight that accompanied them and washed them with shadows; the romantic music softly on the background… it was all too much. Too quick. Too sudden.

Ayame noticed the man's otherwise humorous impersonation of a fish, and put a reassuring hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"Don't worry, 'Tori-san. This doesn't have to mean anything... Just humour me, all right? And let me pay you back for your kindness of taking care of me by letting me take care of you?" He struck a pose, releasing Hatori's shoulder from his loose grasp, and twirled a little to show off the ridiculous costume, which Hatori found even harder to ignore after the spin. "See? Now, now, 'Tori-san, please sit down! I cooked extra special, and I even cleaned up the kitchen _before_ you came home!"

Numbly Hatori sat down at one of the two chairs near the table; Ayame quickly sat down at the one opposite of Hatori.

As the silence between them dragged on, the two got more uncomfortable. Ayame squirmed in his seat. Usually their silences were friendly and peaceful, and, if Ayame could help it, far and inbetween. However, now that Ayame had gotten the doctor right where he had wanted him, he didn't want to mess things up by saying a foolish thing, like he was prone to do.

After having finally gathered enough courage to begin a sentence, Hatori scraped his throat. Ayame quickly closed his mouth, anxiously waiting for Hatori's comment.

"I think you have to leave."

They were words Ayame wasn't quite prepared for, and thus hurt even more as they were released in the candlelit room.

"But 'Tori-san, I told you it didn't have to mean anything!" Ayame desperation made him speak somewhat too loudly for the otherwise silent mood in the room.

"You know that is not true, Aya. I'm sorry, I don't want this… maybe you've gotten the wrong idea." The Ryuu got up a little too quickly for it to seem anything but rushed, frightened, like a mouse in a corner. Ayame noticed and quickly got up as well, literally trapping the doctor in a corner of the room. He kept walking towards the taller man, cornering him between a bookcase and a tall lamp.

"Did I really get the wrong idea, 'Tori-san?" He spoke very calmly and slowly, although he felt like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. He continued to walk closer to the man, feeling the body heat resonating from him.

"I…" The man hesitated, almost begging the smaller man with his eyes to stop him as he sent him a pleading look.

Instead of stopping, Ayame decided to take it one step further. _All is lost now anyhow, and it can't go anything but up from here. I've gotten a 'no'. _ButAyame had foreseen that answer. What gave him hope was the way the taller man almost looked terrified. And he knew it wasn't him he feared; the only person he feared was Akito.

"Say 'ahh', 'Tori-san." The Hebi murmured, grabbing one of the bowls of strawberries he had placed all around the room (_who_ _knows where in the room we could end up together_, Ayame had figured whilst preparing the candlelit dinner), and nudged a strawberry against the doctor's unyielding lips.

Slowly Hatori parted his lips, closing his eyes in ecstasy when the sinfully sweet taste of sugared strawberries hit his taste buds. _Damn Ayame for knowing that strawberries are my weakness_, he thought as he slowly relaxed in Ayame's proximity. Hatori knew he shouldn't let his guard down around _Ayame_, especially not right now, but he could not help his draw to the man, Akito's possible actions be damned. For this moment. Surely he could have this moment?

"Ahh." He said simply, long after the strawberry had entered his mouth.

Then Ayame leaned up and kissed him briefly on his sugared lips, replying with the same 'ahh'. The sugar on his doctor's lips made the unspoken lie a little less bitter.

**To be continued**


	7. The Silent Path

**Pairing:** Hatori Sohma/Ayame Sohma  
**Theme:** #29. The Sound of Waves / 波音

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket or its characters.

**Rating:** R for insinuated intercourse & drama

**Summary:** What happens when you enrage a Hebi? What happens when a foolish fangirl gives him random hypnotic powers? xD; Continuation of 'Twist of the Wild Card'.

**Warning:** You may feel the need to slap Hatori for being completely unobservant. XP You may also feel the need to slap me for giving Ayame such an OOC-power, but you may slap in comments ;

The Silent Path

As the two parted from the corner and each other, silence claimed them once more.

The moment was over.

Soon afterwards, Hatori excused himself. He knew he should not be in the mansion when Ayame was there. Ayame had promised nothing, however, the kiss had meant everything, and both knew it.

This frightened Hatori more than any punishment Akito could come up with. He had never realised anything would ever happen from the confusing emotions that had recently started to surface in his heart. He and Ayame had been friends for so long, and he had failed to notice the shift in their relationship.

When had Ayame started to feel so seriously about him?

The doctor had merely understood some promise of comfort, possibly a deepening of the friendship, as Ayame did not care much about Akito's possible danger to his health. He probably had no need to, he figured, as Akito preferred to stay away from Ayame as far as possible.

When the doctor excused himself in front of a completely silent Ayame, he began to feel strangely guilty. Ayame had promised it wasn't supposed to mean anything, hadn't he? Hatori moved a comforting hand to Ayame's shoulder like the smaller man had done to him just a few moments prior, but the hand was roughly shrugged off. The message was clear to Hatori; _I don't need your support right now_.

Hatori left under Ayame's accusing stare. He turned around before he could see anger turning into hurt.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Hatori had always loved the sound of the waves. It somehow merged with the quiet, which eternally surrounded the doctor, instead of penetrating it and disturbing his peace.

Hatori did not suspect that anything could make him relax now. He sighed heavily as he stared at the water lapping at the muddy shore under its feet, and then turned to look over his shoulder.

_Ayame. _

He glanced longingly at the steaming water for the last time, suddenly wishing for the time in his life when nothing had been complicated. Well, not_ this_ complicated, anyhow. Hatori felt like his life had always been unnecessary complicated.

"Ayame. Come with me, back to the mansion. You are still susceptible to the cold, and if you are experiencing emotional fatigue you know you tire yourself out more quickly." Had the Hebi really followed him all the way from the mansion to the hot springs? It was madness- the nights were still freezing, especially for a cold-blooded Hebi.

Ayame angrily shook his head and slowly, gracefully, walked up to the taller man, as if in a daze. Hatori noticed Ayame's usually lively eyes had gone numb, and as a result he couldn't read what the other man was thinking anymore.

Hatori briefly noticed that Ayame had forgotten to put on his shoes or socks, and the maid costume hadn't looked very warm to begin with. Yet he couldn't see Ayame shivering, even when the man had stopped right in front of him.

Yellow eyes traced his features blankly, and Hatori grew nervous under the inspection. He was not used to looking at Ayame's face without a smile plastered on it. It was strangely worrying to find it missing. Hatori wondered whether he had hurt Ayame more than he realised. But surely Ayame couldn't be _that_ serious about him? After all, the man's sole mission in life was to get the most fun out of life. Either that, or annoy his family members as much as possible. A serious Ayame was not something that happened often, and when he did turn serious it usually involved his precious Yuki.

He was not as important as Yuki.

"Ayame?" He said, hoping it sounded as objective and stern as he meant it to sound like. For some reason he could not hear himself above the sound of the waves echoing in his ears. The sound made him even more nervous. And why was it that he could hear his own heartbeat all of the sudden?

Ayame clutched him tightly after having assessed him for a reason Hatori couldn't fathom. Hatori let out a breath he had not known he was holding. Ayame's scarce body heat made him aware of their surroundings all of the sudden. He wrapped his arms hesitantly around the lean man, wary of all his movements around the man now. Every move he made could be misinterpreted by the other man, now.

He just wanted his friend back. Ayame was the uncomplicated one, one of the few in the family. Hatori didn't like to fess up to it, but he liked their uncomplicated relationship. Why did Ayame have to change everything?

Ayame merely made a slight noise in the back of his throat, like he was just waking up from a deep slumber. The silver-haired man slowly raised his head from the safe, warm place on Hatori's chest, and stared at the doctor once more.

"It doesn't mean anything, I told you…" Ayame trailed off, his body finally beginning to shiver. Hatori was somewhat relieved by that, as it meant that atleast something was still normal.

And before Hatori realised what he was doing himself, he was touching those beautiful rosy lips with his fingers, tracing their shape and even felt the warm inside of the man's mouth as said mouth opened in surprise at the ministrations his traitorous fingers were producing. His own mouth was graced with a tender smile which he was only aware of when he felt the Hebi stroke his lips in a similar fashion.

As if in a daze, Hatori picked up the small frame in front of him and walked into the hot springs to warm the Snake. The water felt burning against his toes as he suddenly felt freezing as well. He could only imagine how the cold-fearing Hebi had been suffering as he walked in deeper and settled down.

Ayame settled more comfortably on his lap, wiggling a little in his lap. They sat there for a few moments until Ayame's shivering stopped. Hatori was not given the time to think about what had brought on the moment of tenderness as Ayame would not stop brushing over his lips with his own. As warmth spread through his body from both the water and the wiggling body in his lap, Hatori found that he could not care less about anything but _Ayame_ right now. Soon he replied with kisses of his own, and even sooner their kisses deepened. Ayame's silly maid's dress, now soaking wet and very heavy, provided not much trouble as Hatori found that skirts were easily raised. Ayame merely smiled; not at all offended that Hatori chose to not undress him like he was undressing the doctor. Soon the smile vanished as the Hebi's face was grabbed and a deep kiss was planted on his mouth. Hatori's eagerness was as much endearing as it was unsettling, for it told Ayame that this was just acting on a silly whim. Atleast for Hatori it was. He put the information on the back of his head as the night dissolved into arms and legs and slick, slick skin, the warm water blanketing them under the cooling air.

Hatori saw Ayame's yellow eyes light up in the beautiful face, and before he could pull back he suddenly felt unable to move.

The beautiful face turned slightly eerie as a wide, strange smile spread over the features. The smile was a bitter one. Ayame's eyes dimmed again, completely. "'Tori-san… you know it doesn't mean anything, right?" The voice, usually animated, now sounded completely robbed of any emotion. Hatori couldn't move, or even speak enough to either consent or object to whatever Ayame was going to do.

"Forget, Hatori… forget." Ayame's eyes lit up in the dark and forced Hatori to erase memories.

Ayame's eyes shimmered, and soon Hatori forgot. Ayame was left alone with a sleeping doctor in his arms, trying to control _his_ powers as he closed his eyes in pain. He winced. He never liked his powers, as they spooked him as much they had spooked his parents. He had not received proper training to control it, and as a result it was never certain what his powers would do.

Ayame hoped he had chosen the right path. The sound of the waves went mute with the promise of a new day.

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The doctor didn't understand why, in the course of a week, Ayame had decided to move to Paris, under the pretext of it being the fashion capital in the world.

He also didn't know why, suddenly, his previously satisfactory quiet world became too silent to bear.

**To be continued**


	8. Ad

**Pairing:** Hatori Sohma/Ayame Sohma

**Theme:** # 7. Superstar/スーパースター

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket or its characters.

**Rating:** PG For shounen-ai, I suppose. And Kyou's potty mouth. XD

**Summary:** Continuing 'The Silent Path', on a slightly happier note.

**Warning:** Nothing really. Unless you find the image of Akito in bikini disturbing. A sentiment I completely share with you, as does Hatori, most likely. To be continued is implied. XP

Ad

"What the Hell!" Kyou was looking over Tohru's shoulder at the fashion magazine she was flipping through out of pure boredom- plus it annoyed the Nezumi when he leaned over too close.

"What is it, Cat… did you get too close?" Yuki spoke icily, having noticed Kyou closely bending over Tohru.

"No, you idiot! Look!" He pointed wildly at the magazine, wrinkling it in the process. Yuki snatched the magazine away from Kyou's molesting hands and tried to get the folds out before giving it back to Tohru.

Until he saw what had made Kyou so startled.

"W-what?" He stammered in shock, looking at the ad in the magazine that was still scratched by Kyou's ministrations.

"Do you finally see, ya damn Rat?" Kyou screeched angrily. "Your idiotic older brother has moved away so he wouldn't bother us anymore, and now he's still stalking us- IN MAGAZINES!" He threw his hands up in frustration and ran out of the room, as far away from the offensive magazine as possible.

Tohru blinked a few times as she saw Yuki turning eerily quiet with the magazine in hand before stepping into action and taking the magazine from Yuki's hands. "What is the matter, Yuki-kun? There is only models in this magazine, so I wouldn't worry about anything too mu- ehhh?" Tohru's calming talk was cut short by a surprised exclamation, as it was indeed Yuki's brother Ayame gracing the covers of the magazine.

"But… the magazine isn't French, is it?" was Tohru's only question as she remembered that Ayame had moved to France.

"Did someone mention 'French', as in, 'French schoolgirls'?" came Shigure's voice from his writing room. It was obvious that he was slacking off as usual, as he only really didn't listen to the conversations around his house when he had an imminent deadline that he couldn't talk himself out of.

"N-No, it's… Ayame-san!" Tohru stammered, and handed the novelist the glossy magazine as he entered the living room. Shigure blinked when he saw Ayame in the advert in the magazine, before he started laughing loudly. "Isn't it just typical? Oh, Aya, you always land on your feet, no matter where you are!" Shigure grinned, proud of his friend even though he disapproved of his decision to leave Japan in the spur of the moment. Ayame had informed Shigure in advance that he had gotten a job offering to work for a relatively famous and innovative design brand. "And Tohru-princess, don't forget please that mentioning Aya does not immediately cancel out it being a French schoolgirl, as Ayame has been many personalities for my _special_ enjoyment…" He let the sentence hang ominously as he went to visit Hatori.

Tohru scooted closer to Yuki by an inch or two, very much spooked by the offhand comment. Yuki couldn't agree more with Miss Honda's sentiments and scooted a little closer to the schoolgirl next to him.

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Hatori had been feeling down lately by the sudden leave of one of his closest friends (without even informing him of it!), not to mention the massive headaches he'd been having lately, which had started the day he'd woken up alone in the hot springs. Obviously he had been hammered, as he could not remember a thing of what happened, not even starting drinking in the first place.

He was drinking now.

He knew he really shouldn't, as he had caught a cold sleeping in the hot springs, half of his unclothed body – why had he been naked anyhow? – had still been wet and drying in the freezing air.

His other hand brought the old cigarette to his lips. He made a face and put both his glass of wine and said cigarette down. The combination of the two was horrible.

Feeling now empty-handed without both mind-numbing drugs in hand, he grabbed the paper sitting on his desk. He knew he should be working anyhow, so it was just as well that he took hold of Akito's file. He'd sent Ayame's medical files to his new address in Paris, hoping the Hebi would know how to handle it and not pass it out to some random doctor in the hopes of the poor man understanding why the Hebi changed into a snake when cold or hugged by the opposite sex.

He folded open the file and his slightly buzzed mind did not quite understand why Akito would wear bikinis. He rubbed his eyes, and flipped over the paper to look at the front page. _Oh, it's the magazine Shigure has left around. I wonder whether it was the bikinis that made him so insistent that I had to see it… _Hatori refused to ponder the thought more, when he figured that he probably didn't want to know the answer. Shigure had funny ways of cheering him up.

The doctor flipped the pages in a bored manner, seeing both male and female undernourished models pass his eyes. Most of them he forgot about once the page was turned over, but when he had finished the magazine, he could recall one model quite clearly. His eyes had been so…

Wait. No. No. No. That couldn't be… could it? He must have been imagining things, missing the Hebi more than he wanted to admit.

Frantically, he tried to find the page again. When he saw Ayame's familiar naughtily sparkling eyes on the otherwise serious face models were forced to wear, he had to stop and catch his breath for a moment.

"Ayame, you're a _superstar_?" He mumbled to the otherwise empty room. He took in Ayame's undeniably _male_ outfit and kept staring, like his mind could not quite grasp the concept. Confused, he threw the magazine back on the desk, before immediately picking it up again. He couldn't believe it. What would Akito say? Did Ayame even know what sort of danger he was putting the family into by exposing himself in such a huge way?

And why did he feel his headache increasing when he stared at those too-familiar eyes? His eyes narrowed as he felt there was something a little strange at the way Ayame glanced in the camera. He winced as his headache reached new heights, and he rubbed his forehead with a trembling hand.

He put the magazine down again. Maybe the reason of his headache would come to him. Maybe he just missed Ayame.

He stroke Ayame's picture on the glossy magazine, trailing fingertips over the photoshopped hair that Hatori knew needed no editing to be perfect.

And then kiss was left on the hair, then on the eyes that made his head ache as much as his chest, then on the lips, a little too shiny to be natural.

"I don't care what you do… just come back in the end."


	9. Compromises

**Pairing:** Hatori Sohma/Ayame Sohma

**Theme:** # 8. Our own world /二人の世界

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket or its characters.

**Rating:** PG

Compromises

Hatori had given up, and given in.

He would look for a new house, just a special house for them, and them alone. _Their own world_, not to be disturbed by other cursed family members with their own part of angst. No novelists, cats, brothers, or rabbits allowed for an extended period of time. Ayame had had the dream of moving in with his best friends since he had been a young boy, and the dream had only increased when Akito had chosen to remove him from the family.

Then the novelist was cruelly scrapped from the list of desirable people to live with. Not because Ayame and Shigure were not best friends anymore, but because Hatori did not like to share Ayame's naked parades around the house with anyone, and certainly not with his persistently horny best friend.

Ayame had complained heavily at the doctor's 'cheap ways', but the real-estate agent was working her magic on the man, leaving Ayame blissfully guilt-free as Hatori was talked into spending much more on the house than he had originally planned to do. After having looked at three houses, they had still not made up their mind. Two of the houses had had Ayame's preference, because they were as close to Shigure and Yuki as he could desire from a house far away from neighbouring houses and busy street life, which Hatori had insisted upon.

Mixing their desires into one house had seemed more of a challenge than either of them had anticipated. Of course they had realised that their personalities were nothing alike – which was one of the things that they found so likeable in the other – but in finding the right house, this turned into somewhat of a challenge.

Hatori, for instance, preferred silence. Ayame was fine with this, as it made for perfect conversation space, but Hatori disagreed with conversation being silent enough, and had insisted on wall padding inbetween the rooms. This had caused quite a few complaints from Ayame, as the Hebi had liked eavesdropping on the conversations the doctor had over the phone. Hatori chose for wall padding because he could not help but eavesdrop when Ayame's enthusiastic voice carried throughout the house.

The doctor had wanted a room that was low on windows for his work, whereas Ayame had preferred it if his sketching room had as much windows as possible. This leaded to the necessity of a nice view, which stacked up the price quite a bit.

After a lot of begging and _promises_ on Ayame's part, Hatori had agreed that, indeed, a nice view would not be so bad.

Ayame had been forced to take back some of his enthusiasm in his blossoming hobby as an interior decorator when Hatori had insisted on a monochromatic colour scheme. After even more _promises, _including one that involved maid costumes being put to proper use for a month instead of trying to seduce the Ryuu with it, Ayame had convinced Hatori of the healing qualities of warm colours in the bedroom. Hatori had absolutely refused on pink, much to Ayame's disappointment.

Surreptitiously, Ayame had decided to sneak pink soaps in the bathroom without telling the doctor, but they were in the shape of seahorses, so compromises were made.

After having visited a house Ayame had doted upon and Hatori had face palmed upon at seeing the price (but Ayame convinced Hatori by telling him that he had first doted on the house as well before witnessing the price), Hatori had one last question to the real-estate agent.

"How much would a floor heating system cost?"

When Ayame heard those magical words that would ensure the delightful comfort of warm feet in winter, he was all too willing to make many more promises to his favourite doctor. But not before the promise was sealed with a kiss.


	10. Isolated

**Pairing:** Hatori Sohma/Ayame Sohma  
**Theme:** #4 our distance and that person/キミとボクのキョリとアノコ  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket, nor its characters.

**A/N:** This takes place around the time when Hatori met Kana. I've looked over some of the chapters and found that most of them focussed on Ayame. Poor Hatori. So neglected by moi. TT

Isolated

Hatori had never expected his own pursuit of happiness, tentative as it may have began, to drive such a wedge between him and his friends. Not that he had seen them a lot as of late, for he had been off to medical college while his friends were following their far-fetched dreams. Hatori had supposed their choices of 'occupation' suited their personalities, just like he had supposed his future would be awfully lacking of Ayame- and Shigureness; he had never expected Ayame's frivolity and Shigure's perverted nature to merge well with his professional persona without school keeping them together.

Small steps, followed by even smaller ones, had driven him to his personal spring. He had not expected to find someone, but he certainly had not rejected it. Kana had been there for him, and had understood him and his needs in ways that Shigure and Ayame could not come close to. In comparison to Kana, Ayame and Shigure seemed egotistical, self-absorbed, and mainly just horrible friends.

Hatori had always felt isolated of the two eternally more sparkly and noticeable characters that were his friends, and at the same time had felt almost ashamed that he felt that way. That was just their personality. And even though, throughout the years, he had slowly peeled off both their layers and had seen them for who they truly were, sometimes he wondered whether their insensitivity wasn't an act.

Distance had always been between them. Hatori had maintained this distance, purely out of self-preservation. Try as he might, Hatori simply could not understand his friend's behaviour most of the time. For instance, he would never start writing perverted stories about his forty-year-old teacher while sitting in her classroom like Shigure, or poke said teacher in her chest with a needle 'to make sure they were real'. Ayame had convinced him later that Shigure had put him up to it, but Hatori had his doubts.

Ayame and Shigure never let him in on their schemes. This was probably due to the fact that if they were to tell him, Hatori would reason with them and stop them, ruining their fun and giving them a moral heaviness both chose they could very well live without.

All of these differences between them convinced Hatori that maybe the rift between them growing larger was not such a loss, even if his heart told him otherwise.

Kana, referred to by the rest of the family as '_that person'_, drove the wedge between the doctor and his friends only deeper. Less and less time was spent at his friends; shortly, the time spent visiting family decreased as well. On holidays, he would choose to remain at school, preferring _that person's_ soothing voice over loud banter and uncontrollable laughter.

When he had come to announce the big news to his friends, Hatori had nearly forgotten that his friends could be quiet as well.

He had not expected the pain throbbing dimly in his chest when he also saw the eternally present smile vanish from Ayame's face before the Hebi could hide its diminishing, completely caught unaware.

Hatori reached out, then.

Tenderly, he placed a hand on the Hebi's head, but Hatori immediately felt that the touch was anything but soothing. More so, it was condescending, like he still considered Ayame as nothing but the fully developed child he still needed to baby-sit. Still, it made Ayame's smile return, although Hatori could easily see another layer with yet more forged delight merging itself on Ayame's face.

"I wish you well, 'Tori-san. You deserve all the happiness in the world." _And if your happiness is not with us, then I guess I'll just have to accept that. _Ayame tiptoed and quickly pecked his childhood friend on his cheek, then turned around and quickly linked arms with Shigure. Hatori did not see Ayame's face, for once rid of all layers as soon as Shigure held his hand in true comfort.

"You have my blessing." The sentence reverberated, sounding only vaguely like Ayame.

And suddenly Hatori felt the shattering pain in his chest which told him that he would never be close to his friends again. Ayame's retreating back, slightly hunched over from rejection, was forever burned in his eyes, and would not even be removed upon the loss of one of them.

Hatori turned his back on the scene, and went back to his fleeting Spring.


	11. Missed Memories

**Pairing:** Hatori Sohma/Ayame Sohma  
**Theme:** #25 Fence/フェンス  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket, nor its characters.

**A/N:** cries I hate the idea of model Ayame, but I introduced it so I might as well just finish it- quicklyhates on self. Also - long sentences and the angstiest thing I've ever written, I think. o-o;

Missed Memories

Strut. Twist. For the love of Kami, keep your hair out of your face. Keep the smile off of your face.

Ayame loved it. He had always craved attention, and being on a runway, no matter how ridiculous it made him feel as he was in the middle of much younger people, most of which spoke a language Ayame wasn't familiar with, made him feel ecstatic, like he was on top of the world.

The Hebi supposed he was just shallow at heart. It was something that he had been afraid of ever since he had determined that the best way of getting people's concern off your back – like overprotective friends that went under the names Gure and Tori – was to smile, and talk the moon away so they couldn't get a word inbetween. Most of the times, he just got swept up in the moment, the guise having become a protective blanket that felt just as natural to him as the clothes that he made for himself; naturally a perfect fit. It had gotten frightfully easy to just not think, and act like a fool.

Ayame nearly bumped into another model on the catwalk in his thoughts, but with the help of his snake-like agility, Ayame avoided a humiliating fall, and gracefully awarded the crowd one last glimpse over his shoulder, before vanishing behind the coulisses again.

"What the hell, Ayame! Stop doing that damned looking-over-your-shoulders-thing! It's not proper, and it takes people's attention away from the clothes and the other models!"

"That just means I'm a success, doesn't it?" Ayame laughed at his agent, waving his hand at the other man as to make the angered voice vanish. "And you were worried that people would be concerned with my age!" Ayame had actually been quite ticked off at the mention that he would be _too old_ (him!) to be a model, but had decided to play it cool, for once. Instead of throwing a grand fit followed by an anguished rant on why he wasn't too old, instead he spared his frightened manager the first and merely threw the latter.

His manager laughed nervously, having gotten used to Ayame's antics- a little. Still, he was used to models being a little _off_, but this guy was in a completely different world most of the times. A hand shot out to stop Ayame's hand from waving at him, which to him seemed really demeaning, and tugged Ayame in the direction of the dressing rooms.

Ayame noticed his stare trailing on the transparent clothing around his midsection, and winked at him. His manager was by no means an unpleasant-looking man, and being in a different country made him that much clingier to people than he usually was, for most did not understand his admittedly poor French, or deficient English. He could order a croissant with 'fromage' at the bakery on the corner, but that was as far as it went. As a result, Ayame found himself alone most of the times, because for some reason Parisians were frightened by random hugs. It was a good thing Enju, his manager, was originally from Japan as well, even if he was from Osaka. It gave Ayame an excuse to make fun of his accent, but it also gave him someone to unleash his stories to.

Ayame was happy he had met Enju. For a while after he had settled in his new, sadly smaller apartment, he had done nothing but take walks through Paris, ignoring calls from his cellphone, and finally throwing it in the Seine when he saw even Yuki's name appear in his incoming call's window. It made him realise how serious his situation was, something he rather wished to ignore.

Two hours later, he had gotten himself a new phone and had called Gure-san to tell him his new number. He knew Shigure would hand out the number the rest of the family, sadly even Akito. Ayame didn't want to wonder too long on why he had avoided Akito's wrath as long as he had, for if he had asked permission for this "short" trip (as he had told Akito it was once she had gotten in contact with him), even the suggestion certainly would have been punished.

Missing Hatori was the hardest thing, and Ayame found out that, sadly, nothing to do but walking in Paris while waiting for his shop to be set up gave him a lot of time to think, something he really did not want. The ache in his heart had not dulled from the searing pain that extended to even to his fingers and toes when he thought about the doctor for too long. Still, Ayame was not sorry about what he had decided to do. Though it had taken more strength from him to leave his beloved Ryuu's sleeping body in the hot springs than it had taken to hypnotise the man into using his powers_ against_ _himself_, something of which Ayame wasn't even sure whether it had worked or not, he was not sorry that he had fled from the undoubtedly uneasy morning after that he was sure they would have, i_f_ the doctor were to remember. Childish as it might be, Ayame wasn't ready to be viewed as nothing more than a pity fuck in the eyes of the man he loved so dearly.

Ayame remembered stroking _his_ smooth, wet skin long after the doctor had fallen asleep, himself shivering in exertion both bodily and mentally. Only gradually had his body recovered from the force he had put his body under, but Ayame doubted his soul would ever heal. After what he had done- used the hated power and turned it back to him; Ayame doubted Hatori would ever forgive such a thing. He was a horrible friend, and the knowledge of what he had done made Ayame realise that with his happy persona in place, he was a better person. The Hebi had been forced to let down his barrier to allow Hatori to see him, _the real him_; in his eyes; his movements; his silent whispers of devotion and the unspoken love silent in the gentle caresses after. Later, on the long flight to Paris, he had been forced to build an entirely new fence.

Still, Ayame rarely showed it when difficulties dragged him down. Enju had found him on one of his walks, and, finding that the beautiful man was interested in fashion, Enju had eagerly dragged him inside one of his casting bureaus. He had found Ayame more than happy to comply to anything to take away from his thinking-time. The man's exotic features convinced the rest of the staff easily, and soon Enju had Ayame doing catwalks for the most prominent labels.

He had not complained when Ayame had wanted more than just a friendly companion, and had without problems dumped a few lovers to spend as much time with Ayame as possible. Although slightly older than most people he slept with, Ayame's Japanese ethnicity gave him a sense of home. Ayame always told him the same thing, before he left late at night to his own apartment.

Ayame was slowly fading away.

Enju had noticed it, and when Ayame had forgotten his cellphone – his only contact to his family and friends – he had known it was serious. Damn, but this model really had issues. At first, he just missed a few lunches, forgot a few breakfasts, and didn't have time for a few dinners. Ayame had to keep up his appearance for the sake of his modelling jobs, but it hardly seemed like the man, who had seemed so vain upon meeting him, cared about his appearance anymore; even his hair appeared matted. The man was practically bipolar; he was always laughing at people's stories even if he didn't understand what was being said, and the following moment he would in order; be checking his cellphone to see who had called; sigh; hover over the keys; for some reason decide that it would not be a good idea to call whoever he wanted to call; and put the phone in his pocket again. This always happened right after a show, and right after sex. Enju practically saw the fear in the model's eyes when he directed his gaze to the phone on the nightstand _during_ sex, which made him realise that Ayame was probably cheating on his lover.

Damn. The man sure was a catch, but although the manager didn't have many moral codes, being the 'other man' was one thing he preferred to avoid.

On a whim, Enju picked up the forgotten cellphone and called the first name that appeared in the memory numbers. _Gure-darling. Okay…_ The phone rang a few times, before a voice slurred with sleep came up on the other line. "Yes? Aya, I love you and all, but that does not give you the right to disturb my sleep in the middle of the afternoon. You know I need it to get inspired for my next novel, now that you are not there to inspire me with your brilliant ideas of manly romance!"

Enju blinked. Ayame's lover was as scary as he was. He cleared his throat before talking to this so-called _Gure-darling_ about Ayame's recently developed habits.

Meanwhile in Ayame's small apartment, the boxes with memories were still unpacked but one. Ayame sat in front of it, staring at the photo albums stacked up atop of each other. So many memories… He had left all of them behind.

It was both a frightening thought and a soothing one that he had to return someday, back to everyone as the eternally estranged brother, the everlasting annoying fool, the ceaseless best friend… and a forlorn pity fuck.

A sob escaped his throat as he kissed a picture of a young Hatori in the snow, smiling. He hadn't been there the day the picture was taken, but Shigure had taken pictures of all the times Ayame hadn't been able to come with them because of the temperature.

All the memories he had missed, and was missing, always seemed so happy if he wasn't there to annoy everyone.

When sobs started racking his thin frame and he found his eyes unable to stop tearing up, Ayame figured that his emotional fence still needed some work.


	12. Lifesized Lily

**Pairing:** Hatori Sohma/Ayame Sohma  
**Theme:** 11. Gardenia/くちなしの花  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket, nor its characters.

**Ratings**: R for implied situations.

**A/N:** Yeaah, I realize that Ayame means Iris, and not Lily. XP Still, it works for this fic, if you have enough patience to get through it. Thanks to for the flower-meanings, as I don't have a clue. XP Also, I apologise for the randomly-placed order of these fics, but I felt like making a HAPPY sappy sappy fic. Yes, I succeeded. I'm sorry, Adi88. Next one will be angsty again. XD

Life-sized Lily

Everybody was always a little too eager for Hatori's liking to compare Ayame to a narcissus. As the legend went, Narcissus had been so in love with himself that he died while looking down in a pond, worshipping his own reflection. With a faint smile, Hatori figured that there was some truth in that. Especially now, when Ayame spent his time in front of a mirror brushing each strand exactly hundred times, before continuing with the next tress. All of this, he did _before_ _going to_ _bed_.

Hatori had once questioned the necessity of brushing one's hair before bedtime, and received the very persuasive argument that Hatori himself preferred Ayame's hair loose instead of entangled in a constricting braid, and if Ayame wanted his hair to be slightly knot-free when he woke up in the morning, the best time for brushing one's hair was now. Since Hatori preferred Ayame's hair free so he could bury his fingers in the silky tresses, or, if Ayame was riding him, liked the way the loose threads fell on his heated skin, tickling him to the point of near laughter, he voiced no complaints about this task of vanity.

Ayame's name itself meant 'Iris'. Ayame himself had told him often, in a teasing tone, that the iris stood for wisdom. Hatori couldn't help but smile, again, at the recollection, so relaxed in the prospect of passion that he didn't mind showing his teeth to the Hebi. It wasn't like the Hebi wasn't going to bare his teeth in the upcoming moments, so it was a fair exchange. When said Hebi glanced over at his favourite doctor and witnessed the rare display of warmth, he quickly ditched his brush in favour of the warm, inviting bed, climbing atop of the other body to warm up his insides; only his outsides blissfully warm thanks to the floor heating Ayame doted on.

Hatori figured that Ayame did represent wisdom, in a certain way. The Hebi, like no other, knew that a smile could mend brotherly rifts, or could guide a cold heart back home.

In reality, Hatori thought that the best flower to represent Ayame with would be a Lily. They were colourful, slightly gaudy flowers as far as appearance went. Many lilies of all colours currently sprouted in their new garden, and Ayame's proudest work was keeping them alive. _Lily of the Valley_ meant return of happiness, something Hatori saw him as. The Lily _Day_ stood for coquetry, and the white Lily stood for majesty.

At first, the colours of all the different lilies had blinded Hatori. The extravagant colours coming at him all at once reminded him eerily of Ayame's walk-in closet (on which Ayame hadn't wanted to compromise; Hatori simply had to get a closet himself) filled with reds, purples and mostly golden colours. Hatori just thanked the Kami silently that Ayame hadn't gotten as used to wearing pink by day as he had did by night, even if the fabrics he wore at night - should he wear anything - was transparent.

As he slowly had gotten used to the explosion of colours in _their_ garden, aided with the lack of windows in the places of the house he spent the most time in, Hatori couldn't help but admire the small dabs of white and gentle green that all lilies gathered in the morning. At an hour on which nobody was awake but himself, the true serenity of the flowers was bared in the field, sparkling demurely with the touch of dewdrops sitting on the leaves.

Hatori loved this most about the flowers, and found that the flowers like that, bright colours hiding within the sealed lilies, represented Ayame best of all.

When Hatori grumbled slightly at the shifting of his weight as Ayame sat atop of him, the Hebi tsk-ed. "Tori-san, Tori-san, you know very well that you should quit smoking. It's a very bad and appalling habit, and the fact that you moan upon my delicate weight at the tender age of 29 makes me worry about your health." Ayame spoke with a touch of humour in his voice, but Hatori knew the man was deadly serious. He knew this by the actions Ayame did to prevent him from smoking, be it hiding his cigarettes, starting a water balloon fight with Shigure in _his_ presence every time he wanted to light a cigarette, or just unashamedly _kissing_ him for such a long time that Hatori was forced to throw away his expired cigarette. Hatori figured that atleast it was better than having a Hebi in your arms in the otherwise perfect bliss of afterglow, complaining that your breath still tasted like "yucky nicotine".

"Hn." Hatori chose to ignore that comment as he could not do anything about it right now, and, quite frankly, had _nicer_ things to do right about now. Delicately placed under a pillow Hatori had made sure not to lie upon, the single rose was taken from under the pillow and handed to a dumbstruck lover. Ayame blinked a few times, taking the rose with a raised eyebrow and a playful smirk on his lips.

"I hope you _do_ realise that our courting days are long over, and you already have me, Tori-san." Hatori noticed his voice was softer than normal, though, and his eyes spoke of tender appreciation. "But I appreciate the effort you made by not stealing flowers out of our garden again, and buying them instead."

Hatori was tempted to think that Ayame had simply avoided placing roses in their garden as they were meant to be given as a sign of love and devotion, and not to show off beauty like the lilies. "You're welcome." He mumbled, lifting himself up from his lying position with Ayame still in his lap, and staring in the Hebi's sparkling eyes with his one good eye. Ayame's eyes did the smiling for him as he leaned closer just a little, brushing his nose against the doctor's trying to entice a kiss.

Hatori had no desire to pluck lilies from the garden anymore. He preferred kissing the life-sized version that always showed its true serenity and beauty in front of him, and only him.


	13. Reality

Pairing: Hatori Sohma/Ayame Sohma

Theme: #2: news; letter / 音沙汰  
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, nor its characters.

A/N: Gah, so now we can get rid of the OC who was annoying me. xD; Also, the reunion is impending. I just needed Ayame to hit rock bottom first. D: Silly selfish Hebi. You may have to squint for the kiss, but it's there. Honest. Just covered with so much angst that it's hard to find.

Reality

When the pale man woke up, he heard crumpling next to him, an unfair trade with the blissful feeling of deliciously warm body he had come to expect. Staying the night with Enju had proven more effective as an alarm clock than his skewed biological clock, and once Enju had figured this out for himself, he had forced Ayame to sleep beside him instead of letting him return home at night.

Ayame hated Paris for throwing him off in so many ways. His biological clock, the language, the food… He had given up eating altogether, under loud protest from Enju, who told him he couldn't model if he looked as emaciated as he did now. To Ayame, it didn't matter. He had already felt weak since that night. The trip, the breaking down of the inner walls, the rebuilding of said walls, being alone in a strange country; to Ayame, being tired was just another thing he had to get used to in Paris, like the lack of trees around his store.

Bleary eyes forced themselves open under their owner's lethargic state as lazy fingers grabbed at the source of the crumpling sound. A paper? A note, most likely. That would make sense; Enju had hopefully empathised enough with Ayame's mood swings to write him an apology note for not keeping the bed warm. Ayame promised himself that if it was not an apology letter, the man could forget about him showing up for another _very important job_. He realised Enju was worried about him sleeping longer and longer, but he just couldn't find the strength, mental or physical, to get up early in the morning. The only thing really putting effort into was Enju's body warmth, really. His own heating system kept shutting down as his fat reserves depleted, and he had felt it better to not appear on any catwalk when he was in such danger of transforming into his Snake alter ego. Besides, his shop had already opened, and he had better things to do now than to parade around on catwalks. Catwalks just weren't as satisfying anymore, as strange as it was for someone as attention-seeking as him to admit. Deciding to ignore the letter until personal hygiene had been taken care of, he got up.

Ayame still hadn't finished unpacking his belongings. He cursed the box he tripped over every morning, before going to brush his teeth and taking a hot shower. He always needed one after mornings with Enju. He felt that under Enju's scent/warmth/taste/bodily fluids, Hatori's were still present, and always would be present. His happiest moment of the day was said shower. He didn't dare take a bath; he feared it he would wash out Hatori's scent as well.

When he exited the shower cabinet, he saw the letter waiting there for him, and noticed it was sealed in an envelope. Ayame wondered about the envelope- it was a strange thing to do, even for a formal letter of apology. Ayame read the address written on the back of the envelope, now vaguely curious.

Hatori's address was scribbled on the back in telltale handwriting. Ayame's hand, as if burned, threw it back on the bed that still had remnants of his night with Enju, and Ayame didn't dare save the poor letter from a fate of stickiness.

When Enju came back to his apartment, he was terribly angry with Ayame for not having shown up. Three hours he'd waited for the man's arrival, but not apparently, mister hotshot designer didn't deem him worthy of even a text message. As soon as he caught sight of the man, emaciated from the lack of food he got past his throat due to a reason Enju still described homesickness, shivering on the bed and staring blankly at the messy sheets, his anger melted away completely and friendly concern took over. Enju quickly walked over with the plan of gathering the man in his arms, but with surprising strength Ayame shook off his arms. With a sigh, Enju sat down on the bed, straightening the sheets to regain some semblance of order back in the bedroom.

"Ayame… I won't hold it against you that you got me in trouble at work, but you're my friend now. So if you could tell me what it is that is bothering you, perhaps I could help?"

Ayame simply shook his head, and crawled over to the agent, burying his head in the other man's chest as if to hide from the unpleasant stare of the letter. It spoke of all kinds of pain, anger, guilt, happiness he was missing out of; nothing good could come from reading it.

A few days later, Ayame finally got over the shock and had gathered enough courage to open the letter. Ayame forced himself to push the idea of Pandora's Box to the back of his head. Slightly trembling fingers took a pair of scissors and carefully cut the envelope, making sure no word written by the doctor was being cut off. He stared in the envelope. Trembling even harder at the sight of so many letters in one envelope, he took them all out. Ayame placed them neatly, still folded, in order. Hatori's scribbling went on top, and Yuki's immaculate handwriting went under Hatori's letter. Then came Shigure, and Mine, as he probably needed something cheerful after reading those first, undoubtedly angry letters directed towards him. After a lot more letters, at the bottom went, to his great surprise, one of Akito. Vaguely amused that Akito would choose to do something so non-threatening, he almost smiled. The vague curling of his lip vanished as his hand took hold of Hatori's letter, and almost against his own will opened it, forcing his eyes to take in what were most likely angry, betrayed words.

"_Ayame,_

_I won't ask you to come back, because it has to be your decision, uninfluenced by my own (probably selfish) desires."_

Ayame was forced to pause here, and blink. _Alright… Tori probably did not mean the word 'desire's to come across in such a manner. Right. _With a wry smile, Ayame continued reading, slightly more positive at the first, kind words the letter consisted of.

"_However, everyone misses you very much. You'll be glad to find even Yuki is a little concerned about you." _

At these words, Ayame's insides tingled a little in happiness. Yuki missed him? Perhaps his situation within the family was not as direly lost as he had thought. If his brother needed him… maybe it was good enough of a reason to return. Maybe.

"_I am experiencing discomfort now that you are gone. Headaches, dizziness, and no matter how often I diagnose myself, I can't find anything wrong. It almost makes me wish that you were here in your ridiculous nurse outfit, taking care of me. Like you claim, nobody ever realises the doctor is unwell._

_I am sorry I never realised how you took care of me. I'm sorry I underestimated you, and took you for granted._

_Is the lesson over now? I miss you._

_Hatori"_

After finishing the letter, Ayame felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice-water over him. Hatori was ill? Ayame only knew one reason why he would feel sick, and that was because of him and his damned powers. Only someone as stupid as him would think that using the Dragon's powers on himself was a good idea. Guilt forced away the tingle he felt at the words of Hatori missing him as he shakily grabbed hold of the next letter. Yuki.

_"Nii-san._

_What were you thinking, going away from the family like that? At first I thought I would be pleased, but when I see what your running away has done to the family, I can't help but feel genuine hatred towards you. Not the uneasiness I usually feel when you're in the same room as me, but genuine hatred. You are so selfish, nii-san. Am I really seeing your true colours now? A selfish man, who cares nothing for his brother and friends?"_

Ayame swallowed. He was silly to put such faith in Hatori's letter, but he had hoped Yuki's letter would be a little nice as Hatori had written about Yuki's concern for his wellbeing. The boy sure had a way with words he did not possess in real life; he was direct. Yuki managed to put under words everything Ayame was afraid of: him being selfish, and immature. Was he really all of those things? With a heavy heart, he continued reading.

_"If you could see Akito's reaction on your departure and your "fame" that extends to even in Japanese magazines, you would realise that it was a foolish idea. Your vanity threatens to unveil the family secret, and it's making her crankier than usual. Shigure is suffering, and so is Hatori. _

_And due to Akito- so am I._

_I apologise for my harsh words, but perhaps you don't realise how serious things are for us here because you won't accept any calls from us, save for Shigure's, occasionally. I really want you to be happy, nii-san, but this is not the way. _

_Yuki"_

The letters' contents went from bad to worse. Where Hatori's had been kind and gentle, even Shigure's was mainly focussed on the pain he, Ayame, had brought to them and the family. Basically, all the letters described Akito's increasingly foul mood, a tense situation every time he was portrayed in an advert, and above all, Hatori's illness. Ayame now felt worse than ever. He had already realised he had been selfish- terribly selfish, before reading the letters. He had been selfish not to even consider Akito in his plans and simply run away, leaving the others to deal with his mess. Now, after reading the letters, he felt exceptionally selfish, to simply ignore the power Akito had over the people he cared about.

"Hatori…" The simple name finally hit home for Ayame. He was so far away from Hatori and everyone else, the other end of the world, give or take a few miles. Even if he had wanted to avoid an awkward morning after, the pain he had given everyone else because of his rash decision was indescribable. Why was it for him to decide that the family suffering was worth saving him a broken heart?

And his heart hadn't even remained unbroken. Reading Hatori's letter had proven this. Of course, the man had downplayed his own pains and sickness, but it became apparent in the other letters that Hatori was feeling very poorly.

Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes, something Ayame was not aware of until he felt something wet dripping on his hand onto the letters. Ayame gasped; it was highly unusual for him to cry real tears, as opposed to the drama queen tears he usually performed. He quickly brushed away the proof of his broken heart off of his cheeks, and kissed the tears from Hatori's letter. Then he started writing his own letter. It was to be an apology letter to Hatori, for all the things he did, and all the things he was doing now, and all the things he was going to do. Ayame knew he would never send it.

The Hebi knew he was bad for Hatori- he always had been. For a while, he had thought that Hatori had had the right idea, marrying Kana, someone uncomplicated. He could not let Hatori suffer physical pain. He was too weak, too shattered, to handle that kind of knowledge. He didn't want to be another Akito to the doctor, always causing him physical pain. He would have to cancel the effect… somehow.

It was time to make Hatori remember, no matter what pain could be caused by the truth. Dazed by his moment of clarity, Ayame picked up the phone as he dropped the pen from the unfinished letter. He was too tired to even crawl to bed anymore, let alone write. With shaky hands, he held the phone as it waited for a reply from the other side of the line.

"Hello, Yuki-san? Would you call 'Gure, and come pick me up? I really can't return by myself… You see, I'm a bit under the weather myself."

Enju couldn't help but overhear the conversation on the other side of the wall, and smiled. Giving Shigure his address had helped to save Ayame, after all.


	14. Finding Heart's Residence

Pairing: Hatori Sohma/Ayame Sohma

Fandom: Fruits Basket  
Theme: #20: The road home / かえり道  
Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, nor its characters.

A/N: Augh. I can't write many characters- and especially not all at once. This was such a pain to write and I'm still not happy with it. X-x But next ones will be easier- I'm sure. I apologise for the horrible corny title. XP

Finding Heart's Residence

Ayame remained impassive, lying on Enju's bed the entire time between making the call to Yuki and Shigure and them actually arriving. The owner of aforementioned bed felt both relief and pain at the call having been made; on the one side, it was a good thing that Ayame would get the help he deserved, on the other side, he would miss the man more than he had previously thought he would. He knew Ayame's heart was obviously meant for someone else, and had been for quite some time. The best he could do was to stay close to Ayame and made sure the man ate and drank even if he didn't profess any need for such things. Enju suspected he didn't want to let his family see him in this state. He even convinced Ayame to take a brief shower so his younger brother wouldn't be too startled by his appearance.

Enju hadn't thought it possible, but when the long-awaited knock on the door echoed through the room, Ayame's pale appearance whitened even further. Enju simply kept sitting beside Ayame and pointedly ignored the sounds himself, forcing the other man to open the door, albeit reluctantly, as seen in the way he shuffled towards the door. When Ayame did open the door, he was greeted immediately with long arms wrapping around him and a small figure observantly taking in Ayame's state.

Enju grinned wryly. Damn, but Ayame's boyfriend was handsome. As soon as he'd caught sight of the dark-haired man who somehow fit very well with the voice he'd heard on the other end of the receiver, Enju knew that this was Shigure. And Ayame's brother- that was his brother? – looked so adorable, yet so much like Ayame in appearance.

"Aren't you going to introduce me, Ayame?" Enju said while walking up to them. He found that he couldn't help himself as he wrapped a possessive arm around Ayame's thin waist, effectively pulling him from the novelist protective embrace. He felt Ayame sag against him, and couldn't help the tingle of satisfaction surging through him, even if the feeling of concern was overwhelming. It seemed like seeing his family again really was a shock to his already weakened system. _I don't want you to break, Aya._

The brother's eyes widened before narrowing, glaring at Enju dangerously. Shigure merely cocked his head, leering at the manager. "I'm Shigure, and the _baby Aya_ next to me is Yuki, Aya's brother." The novelist ignored protests from below his shoulder ("don't compare me to Ayame!") from said brother, as he extended his hand to Enju's. Smiling half-heartedly, Enju reluctantly took the hand extended to him. "I'm Enju."

"Thanks for calling, Enju-kun! You can imagine that Aya was missed at home." Shigure ignored Yuki's scoffing sound. The novelist turned his stare from the agent to the two silent brothers, and winked as he turned back to Enju. "Now let's talk somewhere privately, and give the two brothers a chance to bond!"

As a loudly talking Shigure eagerly guided Enju's possessive hands away from the fragile Snake, Ayame and Yuki were left behind in silence. Yuki was more shocked at Ayame's reluctance to speak than his fragile and ashen appearance. It seemed foolish to ask how Ayame was doing, but what else was he supposed to say? Yuki wasn't used at having to initiate conversation between them- that was Ayame's job. Remembering his admittedly impolite letter to Ayame wasn't helping him put his mind at ease either.

As silence spread between them, Yuki couldn't help but stare at his brother; carefully, so the silver-haired man wouldn't notice. Somehow, Ayame appeared to have trouble even breathing, his chest raising and falling shallowly, a glazed expression in his eyes. His inhalation trembled audibly with each breath he took. It appeared that Ayame wasn't even aware that he was in the room with him. "Nii-san?" He asked, hoping to catch Ayame's attention.

Very slowly, Ayame turned his head far enough to look at Yuki. Yuki felt inexplicably happy when yellow eyes flickered with a spark of recognition.

"Yuki-kun… I'm so cold."

Ayame suddenly jumped atop of his brother; wrapping every limb he had available around Yuki's waist. "I'm tired as well. Cold and tired… How foolish, eh? I should've known Europe would be cold. I'm sorry for being selfish, Yuki-kun. I'm selfish all the time." Yuki didn't dare speak after that, let alone move, although he felt horribly awkward with a shivering man on his lap, even if, or in fact _because_, said man was Ayame.

After goodbyes had been made at the airport, Enju appearing strangely distant and calm to Ayame's observation, they settled in the luxurious, first-class seats.

"Why 'Gure-san! Did this come out of your paycheck? You're so considerate." Ayame seemed slightly more cheerful now, even if both Shigure and Yuki found that he didn't talk as much as he usually did.

"Well, guess who will be paying me back for the trip- including the flight _to_ Paris Yuki and I had to take to come and fetch you?" The novelist grinned, putting up his thumb in a relaxed pose. "But don't worry about it. I'm sure your modelling job will take care of that for you. My little Aya has never been without money!"   
Ayame smiled back, settling himself next to Shigure's and Yuki's seats.

"What did you say to Enju-kun, to make him so agreeable with me leaving? You know I have a way with wrapping people around my finger." The smile on Ayame's face transformed from hesitant to smug. "However, he seemed fine with me leaving. How hurtful."

Shigure grinned, winking at the Hebi. "I'll tell you later. For now, just relax."

After a while, Ayame's head slowly lowered in the novelist's lap as exhaustion overwhelmed him once more.

The flight back home was long, very long. Ayame woke up feeling tired. Anxiety about returning back to Japan welled up in his mind once again, but he had to keep reminding himself that it was for Hatori's good that he was returning. He had to save Hatori from pain. He'd never been much use for anything but a distraction for pain, so he might as well fill his place in the family once more.

Ayame feared he wasn't enough to numb the pain from Hatori's senses this time. When before he could just talk away until everything was forgotten but annoyance directed to him, now something a little more drastic was needed.

He noticed Yuki observing him from the corners of his eyes, and turned to his little brother, his thoughts thankfully fleeing his mind for now. A hopeful smile spread over his lips as he noticed that Yuki's stare did not immediately turn away.

"What's wrong, Yuki-kun? Are you still that unhappy to see your selfish brother return back home?"

_Home…_ he really considered the family his home. How quaint. Ayame never really thought about it like that.

Yuki noticed the faint touch of surprise in his brother's voice when he uttered the word as well. Eyes widened slightly, and he couldn't stop a small satisfied ghost of a smile from appearing on his face.

"Hn. No… It's just that I expected you in better health." He turned his head away from Ayame's stare, looking in his lap. "I always knew I could count on you for being there, as strange as it might sound. You always took care of yourself, and you would always meddle in my life… so I supposed you would be by my side always. Now look… who has selfish thoughts." A wry smile spread over his usually serious features. Yuki knew he really shouldn't pour his heart out like that, especially not to Ayame. When given the choice to pour his heart out to Shigure and Ayame, he'd pick- no, he'd rather die. Ayame would remember and use it for inspiration to make manly romance clothes he would have to wear and pose in, and Shigure would write a novel about it.

Ayame shook his head fervently, breaking Yuki's train of thought with the sudden motion. "You're not selfish, Yuki-kun! Not at all! I was just a little confused, and I made some bad decisions, which were, admittedly, selfish. I'm fine now, though! I can return to Tohru and Mine, and they can parade in front of me again with the wonderful clothes I have designed in Paris!"

While Ayame laughed loudly, Yuki groaned, putting his face in the palm of his hand. His brother would never change. But perhaps, it could be seen as a good thing from now on.

Ayame was asleep yet again when they finally landed in Japan, a day later. Shigure heaved the Hebi over his shoulder without hesitation, something Yuki felt grateful for. His brother seemed like he needed the rest, and a quiet Ayame was infinitely better than an awake Ayame. The two had decided, while Ayame had slept, that the Hebi shouldn't be alone in his apartment and instead should stay at Shigure's place for a little while. Just until Ayame got his strength back. Or as long as Kyou could handle being in the same place as the Hebi. Shigure suspected it would be the latter. Yuki, silently vowed to keep Kyou busy while Ayame got better, although the boy still didn't fully understand why he felt so sacrificial for the sake of his annoying, selfish brother.

It was a sunny day when Ayame woke up again two days later, still vaguely tired but feeling infinitely better than he had felt in Paris. He glanced around with blurred vision, immediately smelling the familiar whiff of Japanese cigarettes. Infinitely cheaper and less tasteful – as Enju had explained to Ayame – but smelling like home all the same. Cheap cigarettes only meant one thing: Shigure. _How careless of him to allow the smell through the entire house._ Forgetting about his resolution to keep to himself and not bother everyone with his problems, he stumbled out of the warm and comfortable bed and suddenly noticed, with surprising relief, to find his appetite returned. _I guess I missed home more than I thought I would. I just kid myself, thinking Hatori would be here to welcome me back too._

Sudden words voiced behind him came as a surprise, startling him so he was forced to sit back down on the bed. Woozily, Ayame figured that he could just as well sit back down, and turned into the direction of the voice. The figure transformed from a dark blur into the novelist his thoughts had been about earlier.

"'Gure-san! You're here, you waited for me! Oh, you truly are my knight in shining armour!" Shigure thankfully saved him the trouble of running up to him for a hug, and sat down next to him on the bed, leaving the portable computer which he had apparently installed in the guestroom. Ayame quickly hugged him tightly and refused to let go until his breathing had calmed down a little from the brief scare, and the subsequent coldness his body had experienced. "Hungry…" He whined pitifully, and winced when he heard his own broken voice. He really was a mess, wasn't he? It was very comforting that Shigure was there besides him. He wasn't sure he'd be so brave to appear so weak in front of anyone else, not even Hatori.

Shigure chuckled, patting the Hebi on the head gently. "Coming right up. I'm happy you're hungry again; your lover told me you hadn't been hungry at all lately."

Ayame shrugged, ignoring the elongated drawl of the word 'lover', as he didn't really want to discuss Enju. Enju was Paris, and Paris had been a mistake. Japan didn't allow ideas of Paris anymore. Once a lovely fantasy, Paris was now a horrible memory.

As Ayame ate his breakfast with small, unenthusiastic bites, he listened to Shigure explain what he had missed, and what had happened in the family. Ayame wiggled out of the embrace.

"I know what you're doing, 'Gure-san. It's fine, I won't leave anymore. You can be such a manipulative bastard sometimes, you know? You're supposed to be my friend and not, like Yuki-kun would, try to guilt-trip me." He pouted, showing the novelist that he wasn't as serious as his words sounded. He knew Shigure was just being concerned, and was trying to prevent any more harm coming Ayame's way, in his own special way.

"I know, Aya-kun. I just want what's best for you."

Ayame grinned. "You know what's best for me. A trip to the doctor!"

Shigure shook his head, sighing. "No, Aya. I'm sorry… Yuki and I discussed it, and we don't think it's wise for either of you to visit each other. Each of you has to heal for themselves first. I don't want you to catch whatever it is that Haa-kun has."

Ayame gasped. "But 'Gure-san! You can't do that to me! Are you truly denying me of my right to see my friend? You don't understand, _I_ am the one that-"

"I know, I know- 'that has a destiny with him', right? But he has to see it first, especially if you intend to tell him while he's ill. You can play highschool girl with Haa-kun later, okay Aya-kun?" Without waiting for a reply, Shigure got his portable computer and left the room, locking the door and consequently escaping a fuming Hebi by this action.

Ayame figured later on that Shigure was a sweetheart after all. Or perhaps Yuki was. Making sure the window was open so he could escape while giving Akito the pretence of everything being alright was a brilliant move.

He cuddled closer to the Ryuu, who he had snuck into bed with when Ayame had found him sleeping. Pretending everything was alright with the world, and nothing had happened. The stage of just friends between them seemed so far away now that it looked like someone else's life. Ayame placed a soft kiss on the doctor's forehead, feeling him burning up.

Ayame knew he would have to heal the doctor soon, but for now, he just wanted to savour the feeling of being home- finally. Hatori's arms were all-forgiving as they wrapped around him in slumber.


	15. Blue Remembrance

**Challenge:** #15; Perfect Blue  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fruits Basket, nor its characters.

Blue Remembrance

The first thing Hatori felt was warmth, the sort of homey warmth that he had only experienced once before, spreading through his blankets and unto his skin. Hatori felt warm for the first time in a long while, his headache blissfully gone for the most part.

Hatori's first instinct was to kick at the warmth, the probability of it being Shigure too great for comfort, even if the presence was probably the thing that had made his throbbing headache disappear. He could live with the headache; the thing he couldn't live with was the possibility of eternal humiliation hanging over his head for having snuggled with the perverted writer.

A low grunt came from the space where he had kicked, sounding suspiciously unlike Shigure for Hatori to worry about who had sneaked in his bed. There really was only one person who he suspected to do that, and that was Ayame. But surely it couldn't be Ayame? He tried prying his eyes open to identify the shadowed figure cuddled up next to him, until an all too familiar voice disturbed the blissful peace.

"Tori-san! Normally I only get the kicking-out-of-the-bed thing _after _I've turned into a snake… But coming from you, I'll forgive it just this once." Ayame wagged a finger at him, looking quite content to be lying next to the doctor, despite having been kicked a minute ago.

"Ayame…" He breathed, his hand coming up to stroke Ayame's cheek in wonder. By the time he realized what his traitorous hand was doing, Hatori quickly drew it back. Ayame reached at the hand, and pulled it back to his cheek, eyes closing in contentment.

"I missed you, 'Tori-san."

Hatori not being a man of many words settled for hugging his friend tentatively, lying atop of the startlingly skinny man carefully and burying his head in the nape of a pale neck, unwilling to allow Ayame to see his expression. If he had felt awkward over the pose, the feeling faded when the hug was returned eagerly, Ayame's arms wrapping around his neck in a hug no doubt meant bone-crushing, but merely achieving a feel of childish desperation in strength.

All thoughts of happiness being fake lay dormant for a while, conveniently forgotten in delightful warmth and sounds of soft breathing. Neither slept, but knew it to be too hasty to call it reality.

After a while with both men falling in and out of shallow sleep, as if their minds were too scared to wake up to find the other person gone, Ayame moved, trying in vain to struggle out from underneath the doctor with the little strength he had left in his arms.

"Hatori, I have to tell you something."

The doctor grunted, not noticing the mentioning of his real name as he felt his headache coming back. "Not now, Aya." Unwilling for the blissful cocoon of silence to end, he reluctantly allowed the slight frame some more space to breathe. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the light, reality inevitably came seeping back in. Ayame became Aya again, his hyperactive cousin, and surely humiliation would follow snuggling with his insane hyper cousin as it would have with his perverted cousin. The pain came back with a vengeance, attacking his eyes until all he could see was white.

"But 'Tori-san! You have to listen to me! I have… I have been horrible to you…" Ayame had the grace to look vaguely ashamed as he spoke the words, but the rare look was missed on a temporarily blinded doctor.

"If you mean you leaving for Paris… everyone deserves a holiday. Members of the Sohma family even more than others…" Hatori trailed off, not being able to think with the sharp pains invading his head.

"No, I mean… causing you to be so ill. I'm sorry… but the good news is; I can fix it!" Ayame did not doubt telling Hatori the truth. It hurt him more than the possibility of rejection to see Hatori so much in pain, and knowing he was the one responsible.

The desperate tone of Ayame's voice startled Hatori more than he cared to admit, and lead him to be momentarily silent. What exactly had happened in Paris, to have Ayame come back so malnourished and changed in demeanour?

Before he got the chance to think, he felt something soft brushing his lips, a vague remembrance of the warmth he'd felt when he'd first woken up. Immediately, Hatori pulled back, startled at his cousin's actions. "Aya, what are you doing?" He tried to remain calm, but he couldn't hide the slight sound of surprise that entered his words.

Ayame sounded slightly amused, at ease, when he spoke next. "Please, 'Tori-san… call me Ayame, like before. Remember?"

And then the warmth was back, more insistent this time, and somehow more familiar than it should have been. Hatori was sure he would be able to fight away the petite body that was undeniably Ayame's pulled flush against him, but he didn't have the energy to fight anymore. Yet, that was not all there was to it… Somehow, he felt something tugging at his head, but not painful like before. It was a sort of tender tug to his memory, much like Ayame's kiss; tender, yet insistent.

Without knowing why, Hatori felt the urge to kiss back, to pay back the warmth and possibly create more warmth between them. Hatori pushed Ayame away before he would give in to this frightening urge, his hands on a heaving chest – had Ayame been naked the entire time he had crawled in Hatori's bed? – panting slightly himself. He felt warmth on his cheeks, and wondered whether it really was from embarrassment. "What are you doing, Aya? Please stop this… this foolishness."

Hatori felt Ayame shaking his head by the way the chest swayed in his hands, and he quickly pulled back his hands, embarrassed at having felt nipples harden under his touch.

"Can't you really remember anything, 'Tori-san?" Ayame was at a loss; how would he have to get the charm off of Hatori? It wasn't like he'd done anything like it before, and even then, it wasn't intended to have such an effect.

"What am I supposed to remember?" Hatori should really have been surprised to find his eyesight returning. Gradually, white transformed into silvery strands in a startling state of disarray, pale skin which had never been that pale before, and pallid yellow eyes which really shouldn't have been so sad. Hatori mused that it was hardly a change from the white he had become accustomed to these last few weeks.

He took in the changes in his usually upbeat cousin, reaching out with two fingers to brush over cracked lips pulled in a forced smile. Suddenly, white hues transformed into perfect blue like the water suddenly lapping at his naked form again _like that night_, the night sky forming a dark cloud around him as he felt a firm tug on his brain, pulling him away from the ethereal sight in his bedroom and into a pool of forgotten sin and forbidden pleasures.

The feeling of faint kisses on his head woke him up. Ironic, as it had been the last thing it felt when he fell asleep that particular night. Broken blue faded into immaculate white once more. Hatori touched his left eye, rubbing it as if to rub away the memory of a pain long faded into memory.

Or, as Ayame perceived it, as if to rub away the memories of that night.

"I'm sorry, 'Tori-san. I didn't mean to cause such a commotion."

Hatori grunted, not knowing where to look now that he had his eyesight back. At least he knew he didn't want to look at Ayame. The yellow eyes that he had woken up to had been filled with hope, regret, and a plethora of other emotions Hatori didn't know how to deal with now. Didn't _want_ to deal with now.

Not after his best friend had betrayed him.

Ayame kept sprouting forth an endless stream of apologies and explanations, followed by a sentence claiming he understood that there were no explanations, followed by yet another apology.

"Ayame… please leave."

A gasp broke off the rambling. From the corner of his eye, Hatori could see Ayame nod in acceptance.

"I understand… but first I must know: is your pain gone?"

Surprised, Hatori realised that it _was_. Ayame nodded, understanding Hatori's body language better than anyone. It was all he had to go on most of the times. Smiling the familiar smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, Ayame got up to leave. A smile just like before.

Perhaps it could be just like before.

"I'll see you at the next physical."

Ayame nodded, the smile widening. "I'll be waiting anxiously for that day!" Was the enthusiastic reply, all too familiar and fake in Hatori's ears.

Indeed, perhaps it could be just like before.


	16. Smoothie

Pairing: Hatori/Ayame  
Theme: 27; Overflow  
Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket, nor its characters.

A/N: I just wanted a break from the angst Hatoyame stories I did, and this one was so easy to write. This features them as teens. XD Some additional info: Tori is the word for bird in Japanese. XD;

**Smoothie**

"Just one more store, 'Tori-san!" Hatori sighed, silently enduring the suffering produced by spending massive amounts of time with his silver-haired cousin in said cousin's natural habitat: a shopping mall. "You said that at the last five stores, Aya." He tried to reason with him, but knew it was a fruitless endeavour. Ayame rarely listened to anyone. Sometimes – far less frequently than he wanted him to- did he listen to Hatori, but all natural rules were off when shopping was involved.

It was impossible to get between Ayame and clothes. In fact, it was even dangerous. When fake mink fur blinded Ayame's sight to anything else, trying to convince the man of the ridiculousness of the price of the garment would probably result in a glare, a pout, or even a begging look, complete with hug. And when Ayame hugged, much like his snake counterpart, he hugged with his entire body.

It made Hatori rather uncomfortable. Ayame didn't fight fair, and a smaller man might have even called it unfair. Hatori knew better; Ayame simply had more snake-like traits than people gave him credit for. Aside from being frighteningly slender, limber, and grew cold more easily than most people, Ayame also knew how to play cunningly. It was this trait that made the combination of Ayame and Shigure a frightening one. It also made Ayame a very entertaining chess partner, especially to people who'd never seen the other side of him. Ayame, with all of his playful banter and seemingly dumb behaviour, had the element of surprise.

It was up to Hatori to protect this, as Ayame cherished it well. With the cunning promise of chess afterwards, Ayame had convinced Hatori to join him for smoothies at the mall. Of course, the boy had conveniently forgotten to mention that he had planned a shopping spree beforehand.

"Ayame, are we going to have smoothies already? I'll even pay." Hatori's back started to seriously hurt from all the unnatural slouching shopping seemed to require. What was more agitating than endlessly comparing shoes that looked completely similar to Hatori was the fact that he had to follow Ayame around.

He'd learned by now that the boy had different gears; the first gear was a speedy one, which to Ayame was completely normal. Then there was the second gear, which was prancing with his long, gangly legs – Hatori silently despised the fact that the boy had had his grow spurt before him, as it made him a free target for pets and hugs and name-calling of '_cute Tori-san_'– which always made him faster than he anticipated. Then there was the third gear, which was full-on shopping mode. In theory, this simply stood for running around. Hatori would be able to deal with it; he was annoyed already, anyhow. In practice, however, this meant running around, alternated by long excruciating periods of stopping, inspecting every seam on the hem, endlessly turning a piece of garment inside and out, only to be deemed unworthy of '_being on a hot, sexy body like Ayame's_'.

Shopping with Ayame meant pain. But after pain, there was always relief. Not even Ayame was as cruel as his small brother sometimes drew him out to be, all hairs and bowties and fangs while stomping on unidentifiable little chibis. "Let's go have smoothies, Tori-san!" Were the words to impending freedom, and Hatori found himself smiling briefly. Ayame petted his head, which made the smile vanish as quickly as it had appeared. "You're so cute when you smile, Tori-san!"

And still, the pain was not over. "I wish you would stop calling me a bird, Aya." He took one look at the sympathetic, bright yellow eyes, and knew that it was yet another lost battle. Two-zero for Ayame. Hatori hadn't felt like such a fool ever since last week, when Ayame had somehow convinced him into going to Sea World with him. Needless to say, people had been staring very oddly at the trail of seahorses following the boy running past the windows, hoping to find a tank that didn't have seahorses in them. Later on, he'd found a brochure of Sea World in Ayame's golden shoulder bag with the words 'seahorses aplenty!' underlined and highlighted, surrounded with pink drawn hearts.

And somehow, Ayame had seen an opening in his defence system again. "But your name means bird, doesn't it?" The innocent blink of Ayame's eyes almost made Hatori give up. Almost. "Only if you shorten it like you do. Call me Haa-san, like Gure does." _Even if it sounds bad, atleast it doesn't mean anything. _Ayame, having seen the resolution fading from his friend's eyes, knew the battle had already been won. "Sure, Tori-san! Maybe someday I will!"

With a minimum of distractions, Hatori finally dragged Ayame in the ice cream parlour. "What flavour do you want?" He enquired, looking at the Hebi bouncing in his seat and wondering whether the boy really needed more sugar in his system. Ayame shook his head, getting up from his seat in one big leap while pushing Hatori back down with a hand on his head. Hatori gritted his teeth. The man was definitely working his hopefully only momentary height advantage for all it was worth.

"Don't be silly, Tori-san! After I dragged you through all those stores, atleast I should pay for the smoothies!" Hatori couldn't help but point out that it was in fact Ayame's parents who were paying, but the comment was waved away in a cheerful manner. "That doesn't matter! Mom and dad aren't here right now, only Tori-san and me are!" He skipped to the counter, and Hatori was scared of what he was ordering as he noticed the man's mouth didn't seem to stop talking. Then again, Ayame's mouth never did.

Hatori wondered what he was still doing in the mall, as he could easily write an excuse on a note and left while Ayame was otherwise occupied. It wasn't like Ayame wasn't treated that way a lot- even Shigure did it sometimes. Shigure had acquired such a knack for writing excuse notes that it even seemed like love poetry, and Ayame always quickly forgave him.

His stare trailed from the menu list to Ayame, and back again. Why was he angry that Ayame was talking to someone else in the same fashion as he would him? Ayame had always been more at ease with strangers than he, and, in a way, he supposed he was jealous of the skill. Ayame seemed so comfortable with the ice cream boy that it made him feel like Ayame could just as easily spend the afternoon shopping with that guy as with him.

All of the sudden, a large, chocolate smoothie with two straws was placed in front of him, and Ayame's face hovered above it, smirking pseudo-awkwardly. "It seems like the guy at the counter misunderstood me, and he only gave us one big, giant smoothie! It's okay, though, isn't it? It'll be our special thing for today!"

Hatori caught the sneaky shine in Ayame's eye and the smile he was – unsuccessfully – trying to suppress, and decided not to make a point out of it. The sooner the smoothie would be gone, the sooner they could go home again, and the sooner things would make sense around him once more.

He was rudely disturbed from his order-bringing thoughts by a straw being plopped inbetween his lips. "Go on, drink! I promise you'll like it; I requested a hint of strawberry in it!" Hatori raised an eyebrow, and suppressed the desire to ask whether the guy had understood that correctly, and if he didn't what else would be in the smoothie.

Hatori had to admit to liking the way the smoothie tasted, although rather too sweet for his taste. It was a nice change to what he usually had, and with Ayame present, somehow the taste fit the occasion.

He stopped drinking when Ayame started to blow bubbles in the smoothie, nearly overflowing the glass. Not bothering to hide the annoyance on his face, Hatori stared at Ayame, who looked at him innocently, straw still hanging from his lips. "What is it, Tori-san?"

Hatori sighed. "Please, stop that. I don't want to get chocolate all over my face, and you should watch out for your ridiculously expensive jacket until it's at least a day old. It's better for your parents' patience, since it was their money that paid for it."

Ayame nodded and continued blowing chocolate bubbles in the smoothie, only softer this time. This time, the bubbles barely came halfway the glass. "Better, Tori-san? Surely you're not worried about getting Aya-germs?" The boy added with a wink.

Hatori's lips twitched, and he chided himself inwardly. _Do not be amused. Don't let him drag you into his insanity._ "Just drink it by yourself. I'm not thirsty anymore."

"But Tori-san, do you want the ice cream guy to think that we're breaking up?" Ayame somehow managed to not make it seem like a whine, although Hatori identified it as such. "We're not on a date!" He whispered angrily, perhaps a bit panicked, as he glanced past Ayame to the guy behind the counter, noting that the man was indeed staring at Ayame with a hopeful look on his face.

"But Mr Ice-Cream-Man doesn't know that!" Hatori sighed. "Mr Ice-Cream-Man doesn't even know you're a guy. And in the unlikely event that he does, you can share the smoothie with him."

At Ayame's pouting, which somehow worked its persuasive magic even around the straw, Hatori sighed and surrendered. Three-zero for Ayame. Hatori doubted he would ever score against a sly snake like Ayame. He unleashed his frustration by nibbling on the straw in front of him, swallowing eagerly to escape this nightmare as soon as possible. Ayame grinned, biting on Hatori's straw as he noticed Hatori sucking on his straw. _An indirect kiss!_ He supposed he wouldn't mention it to Hatori- it would only make him cuter. Ayame didn't think he could stand a cuter Hatori today.

When Ayame had escorted Hatori back to his house, as he was a 'honourable person' they halt. Neither of them ever knew how to say goodbye. For Hatori, it was because the transition from the insanity of a day with Ayame to the serenity and normalcy of a night reading indoors was a hard one. Hatori didn't understand why Ayame ever had trouble saying goodbye; he didn't seem like the person who would stop to think about such things if they would see each other again tomorrow.

He sighed, commencing their ritual of goodbye. Hatori was always the one to speak. "You should make your own clothes, Ayame." _It would certainly save a lot of money of your parents' account._ When Ayame stared at him with a smile on his face, Hatori looked up at him, catching the mirth in Ayame's eyes. "What?" The moment the word left his lips, he knew he shouldn't have asked; curiosity was always punished when Ayame was involved.

"Nothing. You think I'm talented enough to make my own clothes, that's all." So, Hatori had turned even cuter, after all. Ayame couldn't resist patting Hatori on his hair, even if he was only a few inches taller than the other boy. "Can I try some of my designs on you, Tori-san? I actually have some ideas in mind!"

Hatori sighed. Would he never get peace? "I suppose. As long as you don't create the clothes while I'm inside them. I don't want to be poked with needles." Ayame laughed out loud at this. "Afraid of needles? If you're going to be a doctor, you might as well get rid of that fear! I can help you with it!" Hatori backed away, leaning into his front door and hoping that his parents would open the door when they heard Ayame's loud voice.

"Alright, it's a promise." Ayame's voice was suddenly calm, as he leaned in. "A promise sealed with a kiss." And he kissed Hatori briefly on his lips, and thought the sputtering complaints under his own lips were so cute that he had to prolong the kiss just a little longer than originally planned. It was too hard a task for Ayame to resist teasing a cute Hatori.

"That's two kisses, Tori-san! I expect them returned someday!" There was nothing a baffled Hatori could do than stare at the retreating figure of his cousin and pray for safety and sanity.


	17. Black

**Title:** Black  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Type:** Angst   
**Challenge:** #21: violence; pillage/plunder; extortion

**A/N:** Finally, this mayor hiccup is off the road. QQ; I was so dreading writing this, and took way too long on it. It could be better, but... eh. I want Hatori/Ayame FLUFF. XD I'm definitely bad at angst. Continues from 'Blue Remembrance'.  
**  
****Warning: Spoilers!**

**Black**

Hatori found it impossible to focus on the medical records of Momiji Sohma, even if the file lay organised in front of him, on the desk. It was a perfectly normal desk, well-lit and clean; the same desk as usual. There was no reason why Hatori wouldn't be able to focus on the tasks at hand.

Still, every sound in the hallway distracted him.

Every sound coming from the hallway could be Ayame's. Their God had summoned the Hebi to him, and Ayame was hardly in a place to refuse. Hatori knew what it would be about, as it was a rare thing for the hyperactive and overall annoying snake of the Zodiac to be allowed near Akito's presence. So anything worth standing Ayame's presence for had to be very severe in Akito's books.

Several times already had he confused the stumbling of Momiji for his cousin's loud, bouncing strides. The entire situation was incredibly annoying, especially since he was supposed to be angry at the man. Though right now, worry pervaded his system more than his anger.

Even in their childhood, the man had been impossible to stay angry with. Ayame had such a naïve, uncaring outlook on life that he didn't think it mattered, if people didn't like him. He was the one that decided if people could keep in his life, not the other way around.

What Ayame had done was unforgivable. Ayame seemed to know it too, as he didn't even have the courage to contact him as much as he usually did. Ayame had sent him an immense amount of text messages, and would sometimes even dare to call, only to hang up when Hatori finally picked up the phone. Caller ID was not resistant to people like Ayame. Some people called it obsessive; Hatori called it violent. Ayame was violent in everything concerning his life. It always had to be about Ayame, like he was the centre of everything.

The most excruciating part was that now, Hatori had fallen for it too. After all the years claiming he never would, never _could_ be lured in by his insane cousin. He snorted as his eyes travelled to Shigure's file. They suited each other more than even he'd expected. The dog was probably laughing now.

He could still feel the lips brushing his own, warm and supple and almost _desperate_ as the Hebi meshed their lips together. He remembered the way the moonlight shone from Ayame's pale, almost unhealthy skin. Hatori wished he didn't remember at all. The thought of it still made him queasy.

Still, his hand reached for the Ayame's medical records. Ayame's powers were certainly not stable, but they were definitely a danger, Hatori reasoned. He tried to shut down his personal thoughts completely as he skimmed the papers.

---

He hesitantly stepped inside, hanging his head in a desperate attempt to hide from Akito's ubiquitous eyes. Silently, he thanked his wonderful younger self for growing his hair out, as it hid his face perfectly from Akito's wrath. Now if Akito could just stop breathing angrily between her lips, everything could be forgotten and he could imagine himself back in the arms of a certain Ryuu.

"Ayame."

No such luck. He quickly kneeled, not wanting to upset the God more than he already had.

Akito's voice was icy, and Ayame flinched unwillingly. All his boisterous claims were forgotten as he practically felt the piercing eyes staring down at him. It was true that Ayame didn't care about what happened to him; what he could do to Yuki, or Hatori, was far worse. However, that did not take away the feeling he got whenever his God came close to him. _Fear, agony._

He probably deserved it too, after what he'd done to Hatori. Ayame closed his eyes in shame, accepting his faith, whatever it might be.

"This." The surprising one word, where Ayame was expecting a tirade, made Ayame stare at Akito, and noticed he was holding a magazine. Undoubtedly one that featured him. Ayame closed his eyes as he felt a chill crawl over his spine. He had not expected them to leave Paris.

Akito took a few steps closer to his kneeling stance, staring down in disdain. "Perhaps I should cut off your _little snake_. Who knows… maybe it will like when you neuter a cat… He loses his energy, and will be content to just watch the other people play."

Ayame swallowed audibly in the silent room, Akito patiently awaiting Ayame's reply. After weighing his options, Ayame decided it was best to go for the path he was most familiar with. After all; he wasn't going to come unscathed out of this room, one way or the other.

"But Akito-sama!" He looked up at Akito with a wide grin, tilting his head as he attempted to wave the bad vibe of the room away. "I think I kind of need it, for the throes of passion and for basic hygiene as well! You cannot let me move without the staff of passion!" Ayame pretended to imagine the alternative, and shivered.

Ayame didn't know whether he liked the grin his behaviour elicited.

"Then perhaps your hair? Yes, your so-called beautiful hair… It makes you look like a goddamn female. Yes, I think it would be very satisfying, ridding you of your prized possession you struggled so hard to keep…"

Akito shuffled forward on bare feet, catching some silver strands in his grasp and tugged on it playfully. A smile played on the God's chapped lips, when she tasted the hair, licking a few of the strands. Then she bit down, and tugged. A yelp escaped Ayame's lips, but forced himself to remain still, his knees chafing into the wooden floor.

"I know my shampoo smells nice, honestly Akito-sama, but don't you find this a little bit excessive?" Ayame wondered vaguely whether he had a death wish. Then again, this sort of behaviour kept Akito away from him most of the times, and Ayame persisted in anything he put his mind to.

"If I touch you, I hurt Shigure. You're both despicable people, and don't think I don't notice how you manage to keep each other standing, through the insanity and humour. I hate it. I hate how you overlook me!" Akito shook her head, seemingly gathering her wits again. When she continued, her voice was icy. "I hate how you make Shigure overlook me." Akito watched Ayame's Adam's apple bob up and down at the decreasing space between their bodies.

"…And yet, you smell of the _Drago_n," Akito hissed.

The slaps that followed echoed through the room, reverberating against the walls.

---

Ayame slumped down for the second time in a few hours, but the platform he landed on was considerably kinder on his bruised ribs. He stared at a few short strands of his hair, thankfully hidden under the longer ones which Akito deemed unworthy of touching further, then stared at the friendly face of Shigure helping him out of his torn clothes and under the blankets.

Ayame was sure his hair would look a lot better without the blood clotting the strands. Thankfully, Shigure was always there to help him, this time a brush in hand. With a thankful, fatigued smile, Ayame thanked the man, and weakly grabbed at the brush. Shigure swatted his hand away, moving the brush to Ayame's hair himself. "I can't take you to the bathroom yet… this is the safest room for you to be in right now."

Ayame nodded weakly, staring at the floor as the soothing strokes weaved through his hair, letting the calming sound calm him.

"You were beat up by a girl, Aya… how does it feel?" Shigure smirked at his friend, poking his nose jokingly.

Ayame snorted. Count on Shigure to see the humour in a situation like this. He never was one for spoiling Shigure's entertainment, and smiled as well as his bruises would allow. "Sore, but are you implying that females cannot be strong as well? In fact, I hold nothing but respect for the female population, as they are made to undergo excruciating pain in the throes of labour – although I doubt Akito will ever do that – and are forced to bear the pain of raising an undoubtedly energetic and tiresome child! I would almost go so far as to declare myself proud to be beaten up by a female!"

Shigure grinned. "Ayame, please do not mention labour and Akito in the same sentence ever again." Ayame's laugh was croaked, and Shigure became silent, placing some wet towels against Ayame's bruises.

Shigure was the first to break the unnatural silence between the two. When he spoke, the Inu sounded, amazingly enough, more serious. "Ayame, don't become like Haa-san."

"I won't, Gure-san… I can't stand the cold, remember?" Ayame asked, a sad smile playing on his lips.

"So, will you please be worried about Akito from now on? I can't protect you forever, you know. Clashing loyalties and all that."

"No, Gure-san!" Ayame smiled brightly, assuring Shigure that there was nothing wrong. Shigure wasn't fooled, and Ayame knew it.

"Shall I keep you warm?" Shigure grinned lopsidedly, and Ayame couldn't help but make sound a '_tsk tsk'_. "Honestly, Gure-san, allowing my scent to rub off on you to make Akito envious. How very… _you_."

"But Ayame, you know you're my friend and I would do anything for you!" Shigure didn't even pretend to be innocent of the accusation.

"It's a good thing I'm no more a nice person than you are."

Shigure's grin increased when his friend's light frame cuddled against him. If only Ayame could see that he was not a bad person.

---

The door closed. The room was cold.

The steps that echoed into the room were loud for the Hebi's ears, which had gotten used to the silence of the room. Since Shigure had left, he had not expected anymore visitors.

Especially not from the doctor.

"Hatori…" Ayame breathed, not entirely from the pain wracking his body. As the room had gotten colder, the pain had nestled in his muscles.

Hatori cursed under his breath at Ayame's state, shivering and panting under some ragged blankets. "Ayame, are you alright?" Though it seemed a stupid question, Hatori could not find a better question.

"This is an untimely check-up, isn't it?" Hatori clearly remembered that he promised to see the Hebi only for a check up. The doctor sighed and shook his head. "You could've known your trip to Paris would end in failure, Aya. I wish you were slightly more careful. You know Akito wants the family to remain as much out of the spotlight as possible."

"Akito doesn't care about me, Tori-san." Hatori knew it was true; Akito cared only about the influence Ayame still had on the members of the family who did matter to Akito.

Hatori was shaken from his thoughts when Ayame's shoulders started trembling, and muffled chokes came from the hands that were trying to cover his face. Oh God… how long had he been in here? He'd come as soon as Shigure subtly let him know of 'snakes in the basement', but had been too wrapped up in his thoughts to actually notice the meaning behind the words. "Be quiet, Aya. I don't want to anger Akito any more. Let's just…"

"Please don't, Tori-san. I'm… I'm sorry."

"I know."

The silence that filled the room was just as uncomfortable as the sight of the cuts that decorated the Hebi's chest and face. Silently thanking Akito for not being more interested in doing more harm, Hatori wisely kept silent as he began treating the injuries.


End file.
